THE  CERTAINTY 
OF  A  FUTURE  LIFE 


IN  MARS 


DUKE  UNIVERSITY 


LIBRARY 


The  Glenn  Negley  Collection 
of  Utopian  Literature 


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The  Certainty 
of  a  Future 
Life  in  Mars 


Being  the  Posthumous  Papers  of 
Bradford     Torrey     Dodd 


EDITED    BY 

L.    P.   GRATACAP 


BRENTANO'S 

1903 


PARIS 

Washington  NSW    YORK 


Copyright,  1903,  by 
I,.  P.  GRATACAP 

Publnhed  in  April,  1903 


PREFACE  BY  EDITOR. 

The  extraordinary  character  of  the  story 
here  published,  which  some  peculiar  circum- 
stances have  fortunately,  I  think,  put  into  my 
hands,  will  excite  a  curiosity  as  vivid  as  the 
incidents  of  the  narratives  are  themselves  as- 
tonishing and  unprecedented.  To  satisfy,  as 
far  as  I  can,  a  few  natural  inquiries  which 
must  be  elicited  by  its  publication,  I  beg 
to  explain  how  this  unusual  posthumous  pa- 
per came  into  my  possession. 

It  was  written  by  Bradford  Torrey  Dodd, 
who  died  at  Christ  Church,  New  Zealand,  Jan- 
uary, 1895,  after  a  lingering  illness  in  which 
consumption  developed,  which  was  attributed 
to  the  exposure  he  had  experienced  in  receiv- 
ing some  of  the  wireless  messages  his  singu- 
lar history  details.  I  was  not  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Dodd,  but  some  information,  acquired 
since  the  reception  of  his  manuscript,  has  com- 
pletely satisfied  me,  that,  however  interpreted, 
Mr.  Dodd  did  not  intend  in  it  the  perpetration 


Rf- 


iv 


of  a  hoax.  His  scientific  ability  was  undoubt- 
edly remarkable,  and  the  facts  that  his  father 
and  himself  worked  in  an  astronomical  station 
near  Christ  Church;  that  his  father  died;  that 
his  acquaintance  with  the  Dodans  was  a  real- 
ity; that  he  did  receive  messages  at  a  wireless 
telegraphic  station;  that  he  himself  and  his 
assistants  fully  accredited  these  messages  to 
extra-terrestrial  sources,  are,  beyond  a  doubt, 
easily  verified. 

A  mutual  friend  brought  me  Mr.  Dodd's 
papers,  which  I  looked  over  with  increasing 
amazement,  culminating  in  blank  incredulity. 
On  rereading  them  and  considering  the  useful- 
ness of  giving  them  to  the  public,  I  have  been 
influenced  by  two  motives,  the  desire  to  satisfy 
the  fervently  expressed  wish  of  the  writer 
himself  and  the  reasonable  belief  that  if  they 
are  preposterously  improbable  their  publication 
can  only  furnish  a  new  and  temporary  and 
quite  harmless  diversion,  and  that  if  Mr. 
Dodd's  experiment  shall  be  in  some  future 
day  successfully  repeated  his  claims  to  distinc- 
tion as  the  first  to  open  this  marvelous  field 
of  investigation  will  have  been  honorably  and 
invincibly  protected. 

L.   P.  GRATACAP. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Posthumous  Papers  of  Bradford  Torrey 

Dodd  9 

Note  by  Mr.  August  Bixby  Dodan 230 

Note  by  the  Editor 232 

The  Planet  Mars — By  Giovanni  Schiapa- 

relli   237 


POSTHUMOUS  PAPERS 

OF 

BRADFORD  TORREY  DODD. 


THE  CERTAINTY 

OF 

A  FUTURE  LIFE  IN  MARS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

In  the  confusion  of  thought  about  a  future 
life,  the  peculiar  facts  related  in  the  following 
pages  can  certainly  be  regarded  as  helpful. 
Spiritualism,  with  its  morbid  tendencies,  its 
infatuation  and  deceit,  has  not  been  of  any 
substantial  value  in  this  inquiry.  It  may 
afford  to  those  who  have  experienced  any 
positive  visitation  from  another  world  a  very 
comforting  and  indisputable  proof.  To  most 
sane  people  it  is  a  humiliating  and  ludicrous 
vagary. 

At  the  conclusion  of  a  life  spent  rather 
diligently  in  study,  and  in  association  especially 
with  astronomical  practice  and  physical  experi- 
ments, I  have,  in  view  of  certain  hitherto  un- 
published facts,  decided  to  make  public  almost 


10 


incontrovertible  evidence  that  in  the  planet 
Mars  the  continuation  of  our  present  life,  in 
some  instances,  has  been  discovered  by  myself. 
I  will  not  dwell  on  the  astonishment  I  have 
felt  over  these  discoveries,  nor  attempt  to  de- 
scribe that  felicity  of  conviction  which  I  now 
enjoy  over  the  prospect  of  a  life  in  another 
world. 

My  father  was  the  fortunate  possessor  of 
a  large  fortune,  which  freed  him  of  all  anx- 
ieties about  any  material  cares,  and  left  him 
to  pursue  the  bent  of  his  inclination.  He  be- 
came greatly  interested  in  physical  science, 
and  was  also  a  patron  of  the  liberal  arts.  His 
home  was  stored  with  the  most  beautiful  prod- 
ucts of  the  manufacturer's  skill  in  fictile  arts, 
and  on  its  walls  hung  the  most  approved  ex- 
amples of  the  painter's  skill.  The  looms  of 
Holland  and  France  and  England  furnished 
him  with  their  delicate  and  sumptuous  tapes- 
tries, and  the  Orient  covered  his  floors  with 
the  richest  and  most  prized  carpets  of  Daghcs- 
tan   and   Trebizond,   and   of   Bokhara. 

But  even  more  marked  than  his  love  for  art 
v/as  his  passion  for  physical  science.  His  op- 
portunities for  the  indulgence  of  this  taste 
were  unlimited,  and  the  reinforcement  of  his 
natural  aptitude  by  his  great  means  enabled 
him  to  carry  on  experiments  upon  a  scale  of 
the  most  magnificent  proportions.     These  ex- 


11 


periments  were  made  in  a  large  building  which 
was  especially  built  for  this  object.  It  con- 
tained every  facility  for  his  various  new  de- 
signs, and  in  it  he  anticipated  many  advances 
in  electrical  science  and  in  mechanical  devices, 
which  have  made  the  civilization  of  our  day 
so  remarkable.  I  recall  distinctly  as  a  boy  his 
ingenious  approximation  to  the  telephone,  and 
even  the  recent  advances  in  wireless  teleg- 
raphy, which  has  been  the  instrumentality  by 
which  my  own  researches  in  the  field  of  inter- 
planetary telegraphy  have  been  prosecuted,  had 
been  realized  by  himself. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  a  life  almost  ideally 
happy  that  the  blow  fell  which  drove  him  and 
myself,  then  a  boy  and  his  only  child,  into  a  re- 
tirement which  resulted  in  the  discoveries  I 
am  about  to  relate.  My  father's  devotion  to 
my  mother  was  an  illustration  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  tender  love  that  a  man  can  bear 
toward  a  woman.  It  was  adoration.  Though 
his  mind  was  employed  upon  the  abstruse 
questions  of  physics  which  he  investigated,  or 
edified  by  new  acquisitions  in  art,  all  his 
knowledge  and  all  his  pleasure  seemed  but  the 
means  by  which  he  endeavored  to  gain  her 
deeper  affection.  She  indeed  became  his  com- 
panion in  science,  and  her  own  just  and  well 
regulated  taste  constantly  furnished  him  new 


12 


motives  for  adding  to  his  wide  accumulations 
of  art. 

I  can  recall  with  some  difficulty  the  day 
when  with  my  father  in  a  room  immediately 
below  the  bedroom  in  which  my  mother  was 
confined  he  awaited  the  summons  of  the  doc- 
tors to  see  his  wife  for  the  last  time.  It  was  a 
rainy  day,  the  clouds  were  drifting  across  a 
dull  November  sky.  Through  an  opening  in 
the  trees  then  leafless,  the  Hudson  was  visible, 
even  then  flaked  with  ice,  while  an  early  snow 
covered  the  sloping  lawn  and  whitened  the 
broad-limbed  oaks.  I  remember  indistinctly 
his  leading  me  by  the  hand  through  the  hall- 
way up  the  stairs,  and  softly  whispering  to  me 
to  be  quite  still,  entered  the  large  room  dimly 
lit  where  my  mother,  attended  by  a  nurse  and  a 
doctor,  lay  on  the  white  bed.  I  remember  be- 
ing kissed  by  her  and  then  being  led  from  the 
room  by  the  nurse.  My  father  doubtless  lin- 
gered until  all  was  over,  and  the  dear  asso- 
ciate of  his  life,  whose  tenderness  and  charity 
had  made  all  who  approached  her  grateful, 
whose  genial  and  appreciative  mind  had  sup- 
plied the  stimulus  of  recognition  he  needed  for 
his  own  studies,  passed  away.  After  that  I 
seemed  dimly  to  recall  a  period  of  extreme 
loneliness  when  I  was  left  in  charge  of  a 
private  instructor,  while  my  father,  as  I  later 
learned,  bewildered  by  his  great  loss,  and  tern- 


13 


porarily  driven  into  a  sort  of  madness,  wan- 
dered in  an  aimless  track  of  travel  over  the 
United  States. 

On  his  return  the  sharp  recurrence  to  the 
scenes  of  his  former  happiness  renewed  the  bit- 
terness of  his  spirit,  and  he  reluctantly  con- 
cluded to  abandon  his  home.  His  own 
thoughts  had  not  as  yet  clearly  formed  any  de- 
cision in  his  mind  as  to  where  he  would  go 
or  what  he  would  do.  It  was  inevitable,  how- 
ever, that  he  should  revert  to  his  scientific  in- 
vestigations. He  found  in  them  a  new  solace 
and  distraction,  but  even  then  his  passion  for 
research  would  not  have  sufficed  to  adequately 
meet  his  desperate  desire  to  escape  his  grief,  if 
in  a  rather  singular  manner  there  had  not  come 
to  him  an  intimation  of  the  possibilities  of 
some  sort  of  communication  with  my  mother 
through  these  very  investigations  in  electricity 
and  magnetism  in  which  he  had  been  engaged. 

I  had  become  quite  inseparable  from  him. 
He  found  in  me  many  suggestions  in  face  and 
manner  of  my  mother,  and  particularly  he  was 
interested  in  my  peculiar  lapses  into  medita- 
tion and  introspection  which  in  many  ways 
suggested  to  him  a  similar  habit  in  her.  On 
one  occasion  when,  as  was  his  wont,  before 
we  finally  left  the  old  home  at  Irvington,  he 
had  taken  me  in  the  summer  evenings  to  the 
top   of    the    observatory,    then    situated    about 


14 


half  a  mile  west  of  the  Albany  road,  we  had 
both  been  silently  watching  the  sun  sink  into  a 
bank  of  golden  haze,  and  the  black  band  of 
the  Palisades  passing  underneath  like  a  velvet 
zone  of  shadow,  I  turned  to  my  father  and  in 
a  sudden  access  of  curiosity  said  : 

"Father,  if  mother  had  gone  to  the  Sun, 
would  she  speak  to  us  now  with  a  ray  of 
light?" 

My  father  smiled  patiently,  half  amused,  and 
then  standing  and  looking  at  the  sun's  disk, 
disappearing  behind  the  Jersey  hills,  said,  "My 
son,  it  was  a  curious  thought  of  a  well-known 
French  writer,  Figuer,  who  lost  his  son,  who 
was  very  dear  to  him,  that  his  soul  with  armies 
and  hosts  of  other  souls,  had  departed  to  the 
sun  and  that  they  made  the  light  and  heat  of 
this  great  luminary,  and  this  wise  man  felt 
some  comfort  in  the  thought  that  the  heat 
and  light  of  the  sun  as  he  felt  himself  bathed 
in  radiance  and  warmth  were  emanations  from 
his  boy,  and  his  eyes  and  body  seemed  then  in  a 
figurative,  and  yet  to  him,  very  real  way,  com- 
municating with  his  boy.  You  smile.  I  know 
it  is  with  interest.  Let  me  read  to  you  from 
Figuer's  singular  book  what  he  has  written 
about  it." 

He  disappeared  and  left  me  also  standing 
and  looking  upward  at  a  faint  wreath  of  cloud, 
tinged  in  rosiness,  which  floated  almost  in  the 


15 


zenith.  I  was  then  ahout  eleven  years  old, 
precocious  for  my  years  and  gifted  with  a 
sympathy  for  occult  and  difficult  subjects  that 
became  only  intensified  through  the  peculiar 
concentrated  companionship  I  had  from  day  to 
day,  and  month  to  month  enjoyed  with  my 
father. 

This  narrative  may  be  inadvertently  classed 
with  those  ephemeral  fictions  in  which  the 
reader  is  constantly  conscious  that  the  dialogue 
and  the  incidents  are  veritable  creations.  It 
may  here  be  asked  how  could  I  recall  with 
any  literalness  the  conversations  and  events 
of  a  time  so  long  past.  I  do  not  pretend  or 
wish  it  to  be  thought  that  these  interviews 
with  my  father  are  here  literally  related. 
That,  of  course,  is  beyond  the  limits  of  rea- 
sonable probability.  But  I  do  insist  that  in  the 
following  pages  the  occurrences  described  are 
very  faithful  transcripts  of  those  connected 
with  the  peculiar  inquiry  and  experiments  my 
father  and  myself  began,  and  brought  to  a 
startling  conclusion.  Although  conducted  in 
the  form  of  an  imaginative  story  the  reader  is 
importuned  to  give  them  his  most  implicit 
credence. 

My  father  soon  returned  with  the  small 
volume  of  Figuer  and  read,  I  imagine,  that 
passage  which  runs  as  follows  in  Chapter 
XIII.: 


16 


"Since  the  sun  is  the  first  cause  of  life  on 
our  globe ;  since  it  is,  as  we  have  shown,  the 
origin  of  life,  of  feeling,  of  thought ;  since  it 
is  the  determining  cause  of  all  organized  life 
on  the  earth — why  may  we  not  declare  that 
the  rays  transmitted  by  the  sun  to  the  earth 
and  the  other  planets  are  nothing  more  or  less 
than  the  emanations  of  these  souls?  that  these 
are  the  emissions  of  pure  spirits  living  in  the 
radiant  star  that  come  to  us,  and  to  dwellers 
in  the  other  planets,  under  the  visible  form  of 
rays? 

"If  this  hypothesis  be  accepted,  what  mag- 
nificent, what  sublime  relations  may  we  not 
catch  a  glimpse  of,  between  the  sun  and  the 
globes  that  roll  around  him ;  between  the  Sun 
and  the  planets  there  would  be  a  continual  ex- 
change, a  never  broken  circle,  an  unending 
'come  and  go'  of  beamy  emissions,  which 
would  engender  and  nourish  in  the  solar  world 
motion  and  activity,  thought  and  feeling,  and 
keep  burning  everywhere  the  torch  of  life. 

"See  the  emanations  of  souls  that  dwell  in 
the  Sun  descending  upon  the  earth  in  the  shape 
of  solar  rays.  Light  gives  life  to  plants,  and 
produces  vegetable  life,  to  which  sensibility  be- 
longs. Plants  having  received  from  the  Sun 
the  germ  of  sensibility  transmit  it  to  animals, 
always  with  the  help  of  the  Sun's  heat.  See 
the   soul  germs  enfolded  in  animals   develop, 


17 


improve  little  by  little,  from  one  animal  to 
another,  and  at  last  become  incarnated  in  a 
human  body.  See,  a  little  later,  the  superhu- 
man succeed  the  man,  launch  himself  into  the 
vast  plains  of  ether,  and  begin  the  long  series 
of  transmigrations  that  will  gradually  lead  him 
to  the  highest  round  of  the  ladder  of  spiritual 
growth,  where  all  material  substance  has  been 
eliminated,  and  where  the  time  has  come  for 
the  soul  thus  exalted,  and  with  essence  purified 
to  the  utmost,  to  enter  the  supreme  home  of 
bliss  and  intellectual  and  moral  power;  that  is 
the  Sun. 

"Such  would  be  the  endless  circle,  the  un- 
broken chain,  that  would  bind  together  all  the 
beings  of  Nature,  and  extend  from  the  visible 
to  the  invisible  world." 

From  that  moment,  moved  more  and  more 
by  the  strangeness  of  the  fancy,  which  evi- 
dently fascinated  him,  he  buried  himself  in  the 
indulgence  of  the  thought  of  the  possibility  of 
some  sort  of  communication  with  his  wife. 
Singularly  and  fortunately  he  did  not  have  re- 
course to  the  fruitless  idiocy  of  spiritualism, 
nor  engage  in  that  humiliating  intercourse 
with  illiterate  humbugs  who  personate  the 
minds  of  men  and  women  almost  too  sacred  to 
be  even  for  an  instant  associated  in  thought 
with  themselves. 

In  1881  electrical  science  had  well  advanced 


18 


toward  those  perfected  triumphs  which  give 
distinction  to  this  century.  Electric  lighting 
was  well  understood,  the  Jablochkoff  and  Jamin 
lamps  were  then  in  use,  the  incandescent  and 
Maxim  light,  or  arc  light  were  employed,  and 
indeed  the  panic  caused  by  Edison's  prema- 
ture announcement  of  the  solution  of  the  in- 
candescent system  of  lighting  had  then  pre- 
ceded by  two  years,  the  excellent  results  of  Mr. 
Swan  in  England  in  the  same  field.  Edison's 
first  carbon  light  and  his  original  phonograph 
were  exhibited  toward  the  end  of  1880  in  the 
Patent  Museum  at  South  Kensington, 

The  daily  News  of  New  York  in  April  of 
1881  published  the  victory  of  the  Edison  Elec- 
tric Lighting  Company  over  the  Mayor's  veto 
in  words  that  may  be  read  to-day  with  con- 
siderable interest.  It  said  "the  company  will 
proceed  immediately  to  introduce  its  new  elec- 
tric lamps  in  the  offices  in  the  business  portion 
of  the  city  around  Wall  Street.  It  consists 
of  a  small  bulbous  glass  globe,  four  inches 
long,  and  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter,  with 
a  carbon  loop  which  becomes  incandescent 
when  the  electric  current  passes  through. 
Each  lamp  is  of  sixteen  candle  power  with 
no  perceptible  variation  in  intensity.  The 
light  is  turned  on  or  off  with  a  thumb  screw. 
Wires  have  already  been  put  into  forty  build- 
ings." 


19 


My  father  had  anticipated  the  incandescent 
light  in  its  fuller  later  development  and  had 
used,  before  it  was  announced  by  Prof. 
Avenarius  of  Austria,  a  method  of  dividing 
the  electric  current,  by  the  insertion  of  a 
polariser  in  a  secondary  circuit  connected  with 
each  lamp,  a  method,  it  need  not  be  said  to 
electricians,  now  utterly  obsolete. 

The  rooms  of  our  physical  laboratory  at  Irv- 
ington  were  almost  all  lit  by  electric  lamps 
constructed  somewhat  on  the  principle  of  Edi- 
son's, but  using  platinum  wires,  and  the  old 
residents  of  that  village  may  recall  the  singular, 
lonely  house  half  hidden  in  broad  sycamores, 
sending  out  its  electric  radiance  late  at  night 
while  my  father  and  frequently  myself,  then  a 
boy  of  thirteen  years,  worked  at  experimental 
problems  in  physics. 

My  father  gave  my  precocity  for  science  a 
very  successful  impetus  and  left  me  at  his 
death  fully  in  possession  of  the  ideas  and  pro- 
jects he  cherished.  Amongst  these  projects, 
one  partially  realized,  was  the  acceleration  of 
plant  growth  by  means  of  electric  light,  and 
heating  by  electricity. 

Dr.  Siemens  of  England,  it  may  be  recalled, 
had  very  ingeniously  experimented  upon  the 
influence  of  the  electric  light  upon  vegetation. 
In  a  paper  read  by  that  distinguished  man  be- 
fore  the   Society   of   Telegraph    Engineers   in 


80 


June,  1880,  he  referred  to  his  conclusion  that 
"electric  light  produces  the  coloring  matter, 
chlorophyll,  in  the  leaves  of  plants,  that  it 
aids  their  growth,  counteracts  the  effects  of 
night  frosts,  and  promotes  the  setting  and 
ripening  of  fruit  in  the  open  air." 

I  find  in  an  old  note  book  of  my  father's, 
dated  1879,  "chlorophyllous  matter  in  leaves 
encouraged  by  electric  energy,  presumably  by 
the  blue  rays."  In  heating  and  cooking  by 
electricity  my  father  had  made  some  progress 
though  he  had  not  in  1880  employed  his  time 
in  this  direction. 

Perhaps  more  remarkable  than  anything  else 
presenting  my  father's  great  scientific  ingenu- 
ity was  his  improvements  of  the  dynamo  and 
the  invention  of  a  new  successful  small  trac- 
tion engine. 

In  1880  the  complete  distinction  between  al- 
ternating and  direct  currents  had  not  been 
made,  and  the  device  of  a  successful  converter, 
for  the  change  of  the  former  comparatively  in- 
ert to  the  latter's  dynamic  condition,  only 
dreamed  of.  Yet  in  my  father's  notebook  I 
find  this  suggestive  sentence :  "It  seems  possi- 
ble to  devise  an  apparatus  which  would  de- 
liver from  an  alternating  circuit  a  direct  cur- 
rent to  a  direct  current  circuit." 

I  have  dwelt  somewhat  upon  my  father's 
scientific  acquirements  and  genius  in  order  to 


21 


impress  upon  the  reader  the  strictly  legitimate 
training  I  received  in  scientific  procedure,  and 
I  have  instanced  somewhat  the  status  of  his 
scientific  development  in  1880,  because  it  was 
at  that  time  that  he  concluded  to  leave  Irving- 
ton  and  locate  his  laboratory  and  observatory 
elsewhere.  And  for  the  sake  of  his  astronomi- 
cal interests  he  determined  to  find  some  place 
peculiarly  well  fitted,  on  account  of  its  atmos- 
pheric advantages,  for  astronomical  observa- 
tions. It  is  necessary  likewise'  to  recall  some 
of  the  facts  then  known  to  astronomers  and 
my  father's  own  theories,  in  order  to  weave 
into  a  logical  sequence  the  incidents  leading 
up  to  my  positive  demonstration  of  a  future 
life  for  some  of  our  race  in  the  planet  Mars. 

Astronomy  had  a  great  charm  for  my 
mother.  Her  enthusiasm  was  soon  communi- 
cated to  my  father  who  found  his  wealth  was  a 
requisite  in  establishing  the  observatory  he  had 
erected  at  Irvington  and  in  its  equipment. 
Telescopes  are  expensive  playthings. 

The  Lick  Observatory  was  begun  in  1880  and 
my  father  through  correspondence  with  the 
directors  of  the  University  of  California  had 
learned  many  of  the  details  pertaining  to  this 
great  project.  Influenced  by  the  splendid  pros- 
pects of  this  undertaking  my  father  determined 
if  possible  to  surpass  it.  He  wrote  to  Fiel  of 
Paris  and  expected  to  be  able  to  secure  an  ob- 


jective  of  4  feet  diameter,  exceeding  that  of  the 
Lick  Observatory  by  one  foot,  a  hopeless  and 
as  it  proved  an  utterly  abortive  design.  He 
spent  an  entire  year  in  New  York  after  leaving 
Irvington  examining  the  various  possible  loca- 
tions for  his  new  observatory.  The  requisites 
were  nearness  to  the  equator,  an  equable 
climate,  elevation  and  a  clear  atmosphere. 
During  this  year  my  father  heard  that  Prof. 
Hertz  of  Berlin  had  generated  waves  of  mag- 
netism and  that  it  was  hoped  that  these  might 
ultimately  prove  efficacious  as  a  means  of  di- 
rect communication  between  distant  points 
without  the  introduction  of  wire  conductors. 

This  thought  of  communicating  with  dis- 
tant points  without  fixed  conductors  greatly 
impressed  my  father  and  led  him  along  a  line 
of  speculation  upon  which  finally  rested  my 
own  success  in  securing  the  messages  detailed 
in  this  book  from  the  planet  Mars. 

I  recall  that  one  evening  in  the  winter  of 
1881  while  he  was  yet  engaged  in  making 
preparations  for  his  departure  from  the  United 
States  to  New  Zealand,  which  he  finally  chose 
for  the  erection  of  his  laboratories,  and  es- 
pecially his  observatory,  I  heard  him  read  with 
the  greatest  satisfaction  of  the  attempt  made  in 
the  siege  of  Paris  to  bring  the  besieged  French 
into  telegraphic  communication  with  the  Prov- 
inces by  means  of  the  River  Seine. 


23 


It  was  proposed  to  send  powerful  currents 
into  the  River  Seine  from  batteries  near  the 
German  lines  and  to  receive  in  Paris  upon 
delicate  galvanometers,  such  an  amount  of  their 
current  as  had  not  leaked  away  in  the  earth. 
Profs.  Desains,  Jamin,  and  Berthelot  were  in- 
terested in  these  experiments,  although  the 
suggestion  had  been  made  by  M.  Bourbouze, 
and  after  some  interruptions  when  the  attempt 
was  to  be  carried  out,  the  armistice  of  Jan.  14, 
1871,  brought  their  preparations  to  a  close. 

How  often  my  father  spoke  of  these  at- 
tempts, and  half  smilingly  on  one  occasion  as 
we  watched  the  starry  skies  "thick  inlaid  with 
patterns  of  bright  gold"  said  to  me :  "It  seems 
to  me  within  the  reach  of  possibility  to  attain 
some  sort  of  connection  with  these  shining 
hosts.  If  we  must  assume  that  the  disturb- 
ances on  the  Sun's  surface  effect  magnetic 
storms  on  ours,  it  is  quite  evident  that  a  fluid 
of  translatory  power  or  consistency  exists  be- 
tween the  earth  and  the  sun,  then  also  between 
all  the  planetary  inhabitants  of  space,  and  I 
cannot  see  why  we  may  not  hope  some  day  to 
realize  a  means  of  communication  with  these 
distant  bodies.  How  inspiring  is  the  thought 
that  in  some  such  way  upon  the  basis  of  an  ab- 
solutely perfect  scientific  deduction  we  might 
be  brought  into  conversational  alliance  with 
these  singular  and  orderly  creations,  and  actu- 


24 


ally  look  upon  their  scenes  and  lives  and  his- 
tory, and  bring  to  ourselves  in  verbal  pictures 
a.  presentation  of  their  marvellous  properties." 

I  think  it  was  on  this  occasion  that  my 
father  expressed  his  thought  upon  some  form 
of  interplanetary  telegraphy  in  a  manner  that 
left  it  in  my  own  mind  a  very  impressive  and 
majestic  idea.  He  had  read  at  some  length 
the  address  of  Sir  William  Armstrong  before 
the  British  Association  in  1863,  when  that  dis- 
tinguished observer  speaks  of  the  sympathy  be- 
tween forces  operating  in  the  sun,  and  mag- 
netic forces  in  the  earth  and  remarks  the  phe- 
nomenon seen  by  independent  observers  in 
September,  1859.  The  passage,  easily  veri- 
fied by  the  reader,  was  to  this  effect : 

"A  sudden  outburst  of  light,  far  exceeding 
the  brightness  of  the  sun's  surface  was  seen  to 
take  place,  and  sweep  like  a  drifting  cloud 
over  a  portion  of  the  solar  surface.  This  was 
attended  by  magnetic  disturbances  of  unusual 
intensity  and  with  exhibitions  of  aurora  of  ex- 
traordinary brilliancy.  The  identical  instant 
at  which  the  effusion  of  light  was  observed 
was  recorded  by  an  abrupt  and  strongly  marked 
deflection  in  the  self-registering  instruments  at 
Kew." 

My  father  then  pausing  and  walking  impetu- 
ously across  the  room  declaimed,  as  it  were, 
his  views : 


25 


"Here  we  are,  a  group  of  limited  intelligent 
beings  circumscribed  by  a  boundless  space, 
and  placed  \  pon  a  speck  of  matter  which  is 
whirled  around  the  sun  in  an  endless  captiv- 
ity, bound  by  this  inexorable  law  of  gravita- 
tion, like  a  stone  in  a  sling.  About  us  in  this 
ethereal  ocean  floats  a  host  of  similarly  made 
orbs,  perhaps,  in  thousands  of  cases,  inhabited 
by  beings  throbbing  with  the  same  curiosity 
as  our  own  to  reach  out  beyond  their  sphere, 
and  learn  something  of  the  nature  of  the  ani- 
mated universe  which  they  may  dimly  suspect 
lies  about  them  in  the  other  stars.  Why  must 
it  not  be  part  of  this  immeasurable  design 
which  brought  us  here,  that  we  shall  some  day 
become  part  of  a  celestial  symposium ;  that 
lines  of  communication,  invisible  but  incessant, 
shall  thread  in  labyrinths  of  invisible  currents 
these  dark  abysses,  and  bring  us  in  inspiring 
touch  with  the  marvels  and  contents  of  the 
entire  universe." 

He  turned  to  me  and  gazing  intently  at  my 
upturned  face  which  I  am  sure  reflected  his 
own  in  its  enthusiasm  and  delight,  continued: 
"You,  my  son,  and  I,  will  put  this  before  us  as 
a  possible  achievement  and  work  incessantly 
for  that  end.  Prof.  Hertz  has  generated  these 
magnetic  waves ;  we  will ;  and  by  means  of 
some  sort  of  a  receiver  endeavor  to  find  out 
a  clue  to  wireless  telegraphy."    These  closing 


26 

remarkable  words  were  actually  used  by  my 
father,  and  in  view  of  the  marvellous  realiza- 
tion of  Marconi's  hopes  in  that  direction,  as 
well  as  my  own  stupendous  success  in  reach- 
ing the  inhabitants  of  Mars,  was  a  distinct 
prophecy. 

It  was  a  few  months  later  that  my  father 
completed  all  of  his  arrangements  in  regard 
to  the  disposition  of  his  investments,  and  per- 
fected the  necessary  arrangements  for  being 
constantly  supplied  with  funds  by  his  bankers 
in  New  York.  He  also  had  agreed  upon  the 
apparatus  to  be  forwarded,  expecting  to  be 
largely  supplied  at  Sydney  in  new  South 
Wales,  as  it  was  from  this  point  he  intended 
to  sail  or  steam  to  New  Zealand.  Much  of 
the  equipment  for  his  observatory  was  to  come 
from  Paris,  and  he  relied  upon  intelligent  as- 
sistance both  in  Sydney  and  Christ  Church,  in 
New  Zealand,  for  the  erection  and  furnishment 
of  his  various  houses. 

He  finally  concluded  to  place  his  station  on 
Mount  Cook  at  an  elevation  of  1,000  feet  upon 
a  well  protected  plateau,  which  was  described 
to  him  by  a  Mr.  Ashton  who  had  extensive 
acquaintance  and  some  five  years'  experience 
in  New  Zealand.  We  found  this  position  ideal, 
and  in  the  perfection  of  all  the  conditions 
necessary  for  our  experiments  possessed  by  it, 
made  the  realization  at  that  time  utterly  unsus- 


27 


pected  by  cither  of  us,  of  our  final  designs, 
commensurately  more  simple. 

I  left  New  York  with  my  father  filled  with 
a  curious  expectancy.  I  seemed  to  cherish  no 
regret  at  leaving  my  childhood's  home.  I  only 
felt  a  vague  wondering  delight  to  go  abroad 
and  see  strange  and  new  things.  My  seclu- 
sion with  my  father  had  developed  in  me  a 
singular  inaptitude  for  companionship  with 
boys  of  my  own  age,  and  furthermore  from 
the  influence  of  his  rather  poetic  and  dreaming 
nature,  I  began  to  show  a  half  wistful  intensity 
of  interest  in  things  occult,  mysterious  and 
difficult.  We  left  New  York  in  1882,  and  it 
was  then  that  I  read  for  diversion  in  my  long 
ride  to  California,  Colonel  Olcutt's  Esoteric 
Buddhism. 

The  whole  central  fancy  of  reincarnation 
affected  me  deeply.  But  I  modified  the  idea 
as  displayed  by  Blavatsky  and  Theosophists 
generally.  From  a  long  familiarity  with  the 
stars,  in  conjunction  with  the  inevitable  crea- 
tive and  anthropomorphic  sensibility  of  youth, 
I  began  to  think  that  this  reincarnation  did  not 
occur  on  the  earth,  but  had  its  stages  of  trans- 
mutation placed  elsewhere.  In  short,  I  amused 
myself  incessantly  with  placing  the  poets  in  one 
star,  the  novelists  in  another,  the  scientists  in 
a  third,  the  mechanicians  in  a  fourth,  and  in 
each  I  imagined  a  Utopia.     A  very  little  ma- 


28 


ture  thought  and  the  most  ordinary  observation 
of  plain  men,  men  who  at  20  have  far  more 
practical  sense  than  I  possess  to-day,  would 
have  demonstrated  the  hopelessness  of  this  ar- 
rangement, and  the  deplorable  social  chaos  it 
would  have  led  to. 

I  think,  however,  that  along  this  line  of  feel- 
ing I  grew  more  and  more  in  sympathy  with 
my  father's  dimly  expressed  hopes  to  achieve 
something  tangible  in  the  way  of  interstellar  or 
planetary  communication.  So  that  gradually 
he",  by  reason  of  a  desire  that  slowly  invaded 
every  emotional  recess  of  his  being,  and  I, 
through  the  vagaries  of  an  imaginative  mind 
reached  successively  an  intense  conviction  that 
we  should  work  in  this  direction. 

There  was  much  in  our  scientific  work  also 
that  encouraged  a  certain  high  mindedness  and 
liberty  of  speculation,  a  careless  audacity  be- 
fore the  most  difficult  tasks.  The  resolution 
of  matter  into  a  phase  of  energy,  the  interpre- 
tation of  light  as  an  electric  phenomenon,  the 
mysteries  of  the  electric  force  itself,  the  pecu- 
liar hypotheses  about  the  force  of  gravitation, 
lead  men,  studying  these  subjects,  and  en- 
dowed with  speculative  tendencies  to  conceive, 
moved  also  by  a  quasi  sensational  desire  to 
reach  new  results,  that  the  most  extravagant 
achievements  are  possible  to  science. 

With  us,  regarding  the  physical  universe  as  a 


29 

unit,  recognizing  the  notes  of  intelligence  of  a 
deep  coercive  and  comprehensive  plan  involved 
throughout,  feeling  that  our  human  intelligence 
was  the  reflex  or  microcosmic  re-presentation 
of  the  planning,  upholding  mind,  that  if  so, 
no  conceivable  limitation  could  be  placed  upon 
its  expansion  and  conquests,  that  further  it 
would  be  incomprehensible  that  the  colonizing 
(so  to  speak)  of  the  central  mind  occurred 
only  on  one  sphere,  when  it  doubtless  might 
be"  embodied  in  other  beings,  on  hundreds  or 
thousands  or  millions  of  other  spheres;  that 
continuance  of  life  after  death  was  a  truth ; 
feeling  all  this,  their  concomitant  influence  was 
to  make  us  positive  that  the  human  mind  in 
an  intelligent,  satisfactory,  self-illuminating 
way  some  day  would  reach  mind  every  where 
in  all  its  specific  forms ;  and  that  the  abyss  of 
space  would  eventually  thrill  with  the  vibra- 
tions of  conscious  communion  between  remote 
worlds. 

With  feelings  of  this  sort  excited  and  rein- 
forced by  my  father's  passionate  hope  to  learn 
something  of  his  wife's  life  after  death  we 
reached  Christ  Church,  New  Zealand,  in  June, 
1883. 

I  may  now  revert  to  the  line  of  suggestions 
that  led  my  father  and  myself  to  locate  in 
Mars  the  scene,  at  least,  as  we  surmised  in 
part,  of  those  phases  of  a  future  life  which  I 


30 


am  now  able  to  reveal  with,  I  think,  positive 
certainty. 

The  planet  Mars  as  being  the  next  orb  re- 
moved from  the  Sun  after  our  own  world  in 
the  advance  outward  from  our  solar  center, 
has  always  attracted  attention.  At  perihelion, 
when  in  opposition  with  the  earth,  it  is  35  mil- 
lions of  miles  from  the  earth,  and  its  surface, 
as  is  well  known  from  the  drawings  of  Kaiser, 
the  Leyden  astronomer,  and  of  Schiaparelli, 
Denning,  Perrotin  and  Terby,  has  apparently 
revealed  an  alternation  of  land  and  water 
which,  with  the  assumption  of  meteorological 
conditions,  such  as  prevail  on  the  earth,  has 
gradually  made  it  easy  to  think  of  its  occupa- 
tion by  rational  beings  as  altogether  possible. 

During  the  opposition  of  Mars  in  1879-80, 
Prof.  Schiaparelli  at  Milan  determined  for  the 
second  time  the  topography  of  this  planet. 
The  topography  revealed  the  curious  long  lines 
or  ribbons,  commonly  called  canals,  which 
seamed  the  face  of  our  neighboring  planet. 
In  1882  this  observation  was  enormously  ex- 
tended. He  then  showed  that  there  was  a  vari- 
able brightness  in  some  regions,  that  there  had 
been  a  progressive  enlargement  since  1879  of 
his  Syrtis  Magna,  that  the  oblique  white 
streaks  previously  seen,  continued,  and,  more 
remarkable,  that  there  was  a  continuous  devel- 
opment day  after  day  of  the  doubling  of  the 


31 

canals  which  seemed  to  extend  along  great 
circles  of  the  sphere.  In  1882  Schiaparelli 
expected  at  the  evening  opposition  in  1884  to 
confirm  and  add  to  these  observations. 

My  father  had  read  Schiaparelli's  announce- 
ments with  absorbed  interest.  They  fed  his 
burning  fancies  as  to  the  extension  of  our 
present  life,  and  offered  him  a  sort  of  scientific 
basis  (without  which  he  was  inclined  to  view 
all  eschatology  as  superficial)  for  the  belief 
that  we  may  attain  in  some  other  planet  an 
actual  prolonged  second  existence. 

His  great  reverence  for  Sir  William  Her- 
schell  was  indisputable.  He  quoted  Her- 
schell's  own  words  with  appreciation.  These 
pregnant   sentences  were  as   follows : 

"The  analogy  between  Mars  and  the  earth  is 
perhaps  by  far  the  greatest  in  the  whole 
solar  system.  Their  diurnal  motion  is  nearly 
the  same,  the  obliquity  of  their  respective 
ecliptics  not  very  different;  of  all  the  superior 
planets  the  distance  of  Mars  from  the  sun  is  by 
far  the  nearest,  alike  to  that  of  the  earth ;  nor 
will  the  length  of  the  Martial  year  appear  very 
different  from  what  we  enjoy  when  compared 
to  the  surprising  duration  of  the  years  of  Jupi- 
ter, Saturn  and  the  Georgian  Sidus.  If  we 
then  find  that  the  globe  we  inhabit  has  its 
polar  region  frozen  and  covered  with  moun- 
tains of  ice  and  snow,  that  only  partially  melt 


82 


when  alternately  exposed  to  the  sun,  I  may 
well  be  permitted  to  surmise  that  the  same 
causes  may  probably  have  the  same  effect  on 
the  globe  of  Mars ;  that  the  bright  polar  spots 
are  owing  to  the  vivid  reflection  of  light  from 
frozen  regions ;  and  that  the  reduction  of  these 
spots  is  to  be  ascribed  to  their  being  exposed 
to  the  sun." 

"In  the  light  of  these  larger  analogies,"  my 
father  would  continue,  "why  are  we  not  further 
permitted  to  conclude  that  there  is  a  more  in- 
timate and  minute  correlation.  Why  can  not 
we  predicate  that  under  similar  climatic  and 
atmospheric  vicissitudes,  with  a  very  probably 
similar  or  identical  origin  with  our  globe,  this 
planet  Mars,  now  burning  red  in  the  evening 
skies,  possesses  life,  an  organic  retinue  of 
forms  like  our  own,  or  at  least  involving  such 
primary  principles  as  respiration,  assimilation 
and  productiveness,  as  would  produce  some 
biological  aspects  not  extremely  differing  from 
those  seen  in  our  own  sphere. 

"If  we  imagine,  as  we  are  most  rationally 
allowed  to,  that  Mars  has  undergone  a  progres- 
sive secularization  in  cooling,  that  contraction 
has  acted  upon  its  surface  as  it  has  on  ours, 
that  water  has  accumulated  in  basins  and  de- 
pressed troughs,  that  atmospheric  currents 
have  been  started,  that  meteorological  changes 
in   consequence   have   followed,   and   that  the 


range  of  physical  conditions  embraces  phases 
naturally  very  much  like  those  that  have  pre- 
vailed in  our  planet,  how  can  it  be  intelli- 
gently questioned  that  from  these  very  identi- 
cal circumstances,  an  order  of  life  has  not  in 
seme  way  arisen." 

My  father  had  an  interesting  habit  of  snap- 
ping his  fingers  on  both  hands  together  over 
his  head  when  he  declaimed  in  this  way, 
always  circling  about  the  room  in  a  rapid 
stride.  I  remember  he  stopped  in  front  of  me 
and  continued  in  a  strain  something  like  this : 

"For  myself  I  am  convinced  that  there  has 
been  an  evolution  in  the  order  of  beings  from 
one  planet  to  another,  that  there  is  going  on  a 
stream  of  transference,  from  one  plane  of  life 
here  to  planes  elsewhere,  and  that  the  stream  is 
pouring  in  as  well  as  out  of  this  world,  and  that 
it  may  be,  in  our  case",  pouring  both  ways, 
that  is,  we  may  be  losing  individuals  into 
lower  grades  of  life  as  well  as  emitting  them 
to  higher.     See,  what  economy! 

"Instead  of  wasting  the  energies  of  imagina- 
tion to  account  for  the  destinations  of  mil- 
lions upon  millions  of  human  beings,  the 
countless  host  that  has  occupied  the  surfaces 
of  this  earth  through  all  the  historic  and  pre- 
historic ages,  we  can,  upon  this  assumption, 
reduce  the  number  of  individuals  immensely, 
allowing  that   spirits   are   constantly   arriving, 


34 


constantly  departing,  and  that  the  sum  total 
in  the  solar  system  remains  perhaps  nearly 
fixed,  just  as  in  the  electrolysis  of  water  we 
have  hydrogen  rising  at  one  electrode  and  oxy- 
gen at  the  other  by  transmission  of  atoms  of 
hydrogen  and  atoms  of  oxygen  toward  each 
electrode  through  the  water  itself,  in  opposite 
directions,  while  for  a  sensible  time  the  mass 
of  water  remains  unchanged. 

"Let  us  suppose  that  in  Mercury  some  form 
of  mental  life  exists,  that  it  is  individualized, 
that  it  expresses  the  physical  constants  of  that 
globe,  that  its  mentality  has  reached  the  point 
where  it  can  make  use  of  the  resources  of 
Mercury,  can  respond  to  its  physical  con- 
stants so  far  as  they  awaken  poetry  or  art  or 
religion  or  science.  Suppose  that  this  life  is 
one  of  extreme  forcefulness,  of  stress  and 
storm,  like  some  prehistoric  condition  on  our 
globe,  but  invested  with  more  intellectual  at- 
tributes than  the  same  ages  on  our  earth  re- 
quired or  possessed,  perhaps  reaching  a  perma- 
nent condition  not  unlike  that  depicted  in  the 
Niebelungen  Lied  or  the  Sagas  of  the  North. 
It  might  be  called  the  brawn  period.  Then 
the  spirits  born  upon  our  planet  or  on  any 
other  planet  in  an  identical  condition,  would 
find  after  death  their  destination  in  Mercury, 
where  they  could  evolve  up  to  the  point  where 


85 


they  might  return  to  us,  or  to  some  other 
planet  fitted  for  a  higher  life. 

"Then  Venus,  we  may  imagine,  succeeding 
Mercury,  carries  a  higher  type,  an  emotional 
life,  though  of  course  I  am  not  influenced  by 
her  accidental  name,  in  suggesting  it.  Here 
in  Venus,  a  period  perchance  resembling  a 
mixture  of  the  pagan  Grecian  life  and  the 
troubadour  life  of  Provenge  may  prevail  and 
again  to  it  have  flown  the  spirits  which  in  our 
planet  only  touch  that  development,  which 
from  Venus  flow  to  us,  those  adapted  for  the 
religious  or  intellectual  phase  we  present. 
This  Venus  life  might  be  called  the  sense 
period. 

"And  now  our  world  follows,  with  its  scien- 
tific life  which  probably  represents  its  nor- 
mal limit.  Beyond  this  it  will  not  go.  As 
we  have  developed  through  a  brawn  and  sense 
period  to  our  present  stage,  so  in  Mercury 
and  Venus,  ages  have  prevailed  of  develop- 
ment which  eventuated  in  their  final  fixed 
stages  at  brawn  and  sense.  In  Venus,  too,  the 
brawn  stage  preceded  the  sense  period.  In  us 
both  have  preceded  the  scientific  stage.  There 
has  been,  may  we  not  think,  constant  inter- 
changes between  these  planets  of  such  lives  as 
survive  material  dissolution,  and  they  have 
found  the  nidus  that  fits  them  in  each.  Souls 
leaving  us  in  a  brazen  epoch  have  fled  to  Mer- 


36 


cury,  souls  leaving  us  in  a  sense  epoch  have 
fled  to  Venus,  and  all  souls  in  Mercury  or 
Venus,  ready  for  reincarnation  in  a  scientific 
epoch,  have  come  to  us. 

"But  there  is  an  important  postulate  under- 
lying this  theory.  It  is,  that  upon  each  planet 
the  possibilities  of  development  just  attain  to 
the  margin  of  the  next  higher  step  in  mental 
evolution.  That  is,  that  on  Mercury  the  period 
of  brawn  develops  to  the  possibility  of  the 
period  of  sense  without  fully  exemplifying  it, 
so  in  Venus  the  period  of  sense  develops  to 
the  possibility  of  the  period  of  science  with- 
out attaining  it,  and  in  our  world  the  period 
of  science  develops  to  the  period  of  spirit, 
without,  in  any  universal  way,  exhibiting  it. 

"These  are  steps  progressively  represented,  I 
may  imagine,  in  the  planets.  And,  in  the 
further  progress  outward,  we  reach  the  planet 
Mars.  Let  us  place  here  the  period  of  spirit. 
On  Mars  is  accomplished  in  society,  and  ac- 
companied by  an  accomplishment  in  its  physi- 
cal features,  also,  of  those  ideals  of  living 
which  the  great  and  good  unceasingly  labor  to 
secure  for  us  here  and  unceasingly  fail  to  se- 
cure. O  my  child,  if  we  could  learn  somehow 
to  get  tidings  from  that  distant  sphere,  if  only 
the  viewless  abyss  of  space  between  our  world 
and  Mars  might  be  bridged  by  the  noiseless 
and  unseen  waves  of  a  magnetic  current." 


37 


We  reached  Christ  Church  in  June,  in  1883, 
and  for  one  year  were  most  busy  in  completing 
the  station  we  had  selected,  in  receiving  ap- 
paratus, getting  our  observatory  built  and  a 
useful,  but  not  large  telescope  mounted. 

The  position  taken  by  us  was  attractive. 
It  was  upon  a  high  hill,  a  glacial  mound  which 
had  been  smoothed  upon  its  upper  surface 
into  a  long  and  broad  plain.  The  prospects 
from  this  position  were  exceedingly  beautiful. 
Christ  Church  was  some  ten  miles  distant 
and  the  irregular  shores  northward  outlined  by 
ribbons  of  breaking  waves  lay  upon  the  sea- 
ward margin  of  our  vision,  while  the  broken 
intermediate  landscape,  with  interrupted  agri- 
cultural domains  and  forests  was  in  front  of  us 
and  far  above  us  rose  the  grander  peaks  of  the 
New  Zealand  Alps,  a  constant  charm  through 
the  changing  atmosphere,  now  brought  near  to 
us  through  the  optical  refraction  of  the  clear 
air,  and  again  veiled  and  shadowed  and  re- 
moved into  spectral  evanescent  forms.  The 
picture  was  intensely  interesting  and  like  all 
commanding  views  where  the  most  expressive 
elements  of  scenery  are  combined,  the  remote 
sea,  reflecting  every  mood  of  light  and  color, 
and  the  snowy  peaks  carrying  to  us  the  opaline 
glories  of  rising  or  setting  sun  was  a  compari- 
son that   stimulated  and  controlled  the  spec- 


38 


tator  with  its  wonderful  charm  and  strength 
and   poetic   changes. 

To  me  whose  emotional  nature,  inherited 
from  a  mother  gifted  with  delicate  tastes  and  a 
refined  enthusiasm  for  the  beautiful  had  been 
curiously  discouraged  by  association  with  my 
father's  scientific  pursuits,  this  lively  panorama 
constantly  fed  my  dreams  with  pleasing  pic- 
tures. 

My  life  has  been  an  isolated  and  repressed 
one,  except  for  the  one  incident  I  am  about  to 
bequeath  to  posterity.  I  had  not  enjoyed  the 
play  of  youthful  companions  except  in  a  fugi- 
tive way,  I  had  not  gone  to  school  nor  passed 
three  years  of  muscular  and  buoyant  activity 
in  the  usual  pastimes  and  pleasures  of  child- 
hood. I  had  a  precocious  nature  and  it  had 
been  unfolded  in  an  atmosphere  of  strictly  in- 
tellectual ideas.  My  mother  had  been  a  con- 
stant joy  to  me  during  the  short  years  of  her 
life  on  earth,  but  somehow  by  reason  of  sick- 
ness I  had  not  enjoyed  even  her  endearment 
as  I  might  have. 

So  in  my  father  and  his  aspirations,  and  the 
later  hopes  of  his  excited  and  passionate 
longing  to  regain  some  trace  of  my  mother, 
my  life  from  four  years  of  age  was  actually 
and  potentially  concentrated.  My  father  cher- 
ished me  with  a  great  consuming  love.  He 
saw  in  me  the  representation  in  face  and  par- 


39 


tially  in  temperament  of  his  wife.  He  lavished 
on  me  every  care.  Yet  because  of  his  eager 
affection,  and  his  complete  suspense  from  so- 
cial connections  I  was  made  too  largely  de- 
pendent on  him  alone.  I  lived  in  his  compan- 
ionship only.  My  conversation  became  prema- 
turely advanced  in  terms  and  principles,  and 
my  childish  confidence  was  nurtured  by  nothing 
less  wonderful  than  books  and  theories,  experi- 
ments and  dissertations. 

The  wonderful  beauty  of  our  new  surround- 
ings, the  strangeness  of  our  sudden  removal 
from  America,  the  long  distances  travelled, 
awoke  in  me  new  thoughts  and  I  readily  sur- 
rendered myself  at  times  to  the  incoherent 
struggles  of  my  nature,  to  find  someone,  some- 
thing, more  responsive  to  my  young  feelings 
than  essays  on  magnetism,  and  a  man,  father 
though  he  was,  immersed  in  demonstrations 
and  problems.  It  was  then  that  this  distant 
picture  in  the  days  of  the  fragrant  and  reviving 
springtime,  filled  me  with  unutterable  and 
touching  ecstacy. 

My  father,  as  I  had  said,  fully  intended  to  ar- 
rive at  some  definite  conclusions  as  to  the 
possibilities  of  wireless  telegraphy.  At  one 
end  of  the  grassy  plain  I  have  alluded  to,  our 
chief  stations  were  erected  and,  at  the  distance 
of  two  miles,  almost  at  the  other  extremity, 
we  placed  a  smaller  station.     Our  whole  work 


40 


was  to  achieve  telegraphic  communication  be- 
tween these  points  without  wires.  At  night  my 
father  bent  his  telescopic  gaze  upon  the 
heavens,  and  as  the  earth  approached  opposi- 
tion to  Mars  in  1884  I  remember  his  eagerness 
and  his  repeated  adjurations  that  if  we  failed 
in  the  task  in  his  lifetime  I  should  devote  my 
life,  separated  from  all  other  occupations  and 
indulgences,  to  carrying  on  his  designs. 

At  first  he  only  dimly  intimated  his  great 
ambition,  the  union  of  our  world  with  others 
by  magnetic  waves,  but  as  it  slowly  assumed 
a  theoretical  certainty  he  talked  more  and 
more  boldly  of  this  portentous  and  transform- 
ing possibility. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  noticing  another  im- 
portant scientific  activity  of  my  father's.  It 
was  the  use  of  photography  in  stellar  measure- 
ment. As  is  well  known  to  photographers, 
in  1871  Dr.  R.  L.  Maddox  used  gelatine  in 
place  of  collodion  from  which  innovation  rose 
the  present  system  of  dry  plate  photography. 
My  father  had  always  felt  the  greatest  interest 
in  the  use  of  photography  in  astronomy.  He 
was  acquainted  with  the  splendid  work  done  by 
Chapman  for  Rutherford,  New  York,  in  his 
careful  and  exquisite  photographs  of  the  moon. 
As  early  as  1850  Whipple  of  Boston  made  pho- 
tographs of  the  stars. 

It   was,   however,   the    incomparable   advan- 


41 


tages,  furnished  in  speed,  by  the  dry  plate 
photography  which  made  my  father  realize 
early  as  anyone,  the'  boundless  possibilities  thus 
opened  in  human  attainment  for  the  penetra- 
tion of  the  Sidereal  firmament.  He  had  made 
a  great  number  of  photographs  at  Irvington, 
and  the  photographic  laboratory  was  a  charm- 
ing illustration  of  my  father's  ingenuity  and 
precision.  At  Mt.  Cook  we  enjoyed  a  marvel- 
lously clear  atmosphere  for  work  of  this  sort, 
and  amongst  the  first  thoughts  of  my  father 
was  to  provide  the  most  satisfactory  means  for 
the  continuance  of  our  stellar  photography. 
Besides  our  visual  telescope  we  had  a  photo- 
graphic telescope  which  was  used,  instead  of 
connecting  the  visual  lens  on  one  and  the  same 
instrument,  as  in  the  Lick  Observatory. 

The  innovations  introduced  by  photography 
have  revolutionized  the  processes  of  stellar 
measurement.  Instead  of  the  laborious  task  of 
measuring  the  stars  through  the  telescope,  the 
photographic  plate  can  be  studied  at  ease  as  a 
correct  and  identical  chart  of  the  heavens  and 
the  results  thus  obtained  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  astronomers.  My  father  appreciated  this 
and  amongst  his  numerous  projects  of  scientific 
usefulness  the  preparation  of  photographs  of 
the  stars  fully  occupied  his  mind. 

We  had  no  Meridian  Circle,  as  it  was  less 
in  the   direction   of   the   determination  of  the 


42 


position  of  stars  than  in  the  elucidation  of  the 
surfaces  of  planets,  that  my  father's  astro- 
nomical predilections  lay.  Our  telescope  was 
a  refractor  and  had  an  objective  of  two  feet 
diameter.  It  was  firmly  supported  on  a  trap 
rock  pedestal.  The  eye  piece  adjustment  was 
unusually  successful,  and  the  remarkable  free- 
dom of  the  objective  from  any  traces  of 
spherical  or  chromatic  aberration  gave  us  an 
image  of  surprising  clearness.  The  photo- 
graphic results  were  admirable.  I  imagine 
few  more  satisfactory  photographs  of  the  face 
of  Moon  have  been  made  than  those  we  se- 
cured, so  far  at  least  as  definition  is  concerned, 
and  the  detail  within  the  limits  of  our  powers 
of  magnification. 

The  telescope  was  very  slowly  installed  and 
it  was  well  in  1885  before  we  were  able  to  use 
it  for  either  observation  or  photography. 

As  the  surprising  messages  detailed  in  the 
following  pages  came  by  means  of  wireless 
telegraphy,  I  will  dwell  for  an  instant  for  the 
benefit  of  the  non-scientific  reader,  upon  the 
investigations  made  by  my  father  and  myself 
in  this  subject. 

The  installation  of  a  wireless  telegraphic  sta- 
tion is  not  necessarily  difficult.  The  progress 
made  since  my  father  and  myself  began  these 
experiments  has  been,  of  course,  considerable, 
and  yet  so  far  as  I  am  able  to  ascertain  the  new 


43 


devices  in  this  direction  were  largely  antici- 
pated by  us.  The  tuning  of  wireless  messages 
by  which  the  interception  of  messages  is  pre- 
vented was  certainly  forestalled  by  us,  though 
in  the  communications  with  Mars  herein  de- 
tailed the  ordinary  [non-syntonic. — Editor]  re- 
ceiver was  employed. 

We  employed  an  induction  coil,  emitted  a 
wave  by  a  spark,  and  had  a  wire  rod  [antenna. 
— Editor]  which  was  in  turn  part  of  an  induc- 
tion coil.  This  was  the  sender  (transmitter) 
and  we  could  regulate  the  wave  length  so  that 
a  receiving  wire  adjusted  for  such  a  wave 
could  only  receive  it.  [There  seems  to  be  im- 
plied in  these  words  an  arrangement  known  as 
the  Slaby-Arco  system,  which  American  read- 
ers have  had  described  for  them  by  M.  A. 
Frederick,  Collins,  Sci.  Amer.,  March  9  and 
Dec.  28,  1901. — Editor.]  The  receiver  con- 
sisted of  iron  filings  in  which  later  carbon 
particles  were  added. 

My  father  died  in  1892  and  we  had  not  at 
the  time  of  his  death  learned  of  Popoff  s  mi- 
crophone-coherer in  which  steel  filings  were 
mixed  with  carbon  granules.  The  magnetic 
waves  received  at  first  by  us  presumably  from 
Mars,  and  later,  as  the  communications  indis- 
putably show,  from  that  planet,  were  taken 
upon  a  Marconi  receiver,  or  what  was  prac- 
tically that. 


44 


My  father  became  more  and  more  inter- 
ested in  the  direction  of  inter-planetary  re- 
search by  means  of  the  magnetic  wave.  He 
argued  vehemently,  buoyed  up  by  his  increas- 
ingly augmented  hopes  as  our  own  experi- 
ments improved,  that  the  electric  wave  through 
space  moving  in  an  ethereal  fluid  of  the  ex- 
tremest  purity  would  progress  more  rapidly 
than  in  our  atmosphere,  that  the  tension  of 
such  waves  would  be  greater,  that  they  could 
be  so  "heaped  up"  as  he  expressed  it — (In 
the  Slaby-Arco  system  an  apparatus  is  em- 
ployed consisting  of  a  Rulnukorff  coil  with 
a  centrifugal  mercury  interrupter,  by  which 
a  steeper  wave  front  of  the  disruptive  dis- 
charge is  secured. — Editor) — that  their  recep- 
tion over  the  almost  impassable  distances  of 
space  would  be  made  possible. 

This  idea  of  piling  up  the  waves  was  sug- 
gested by  purely  physical  analogies.  The 
enormous  waves  generated  by  severe  storms 
upon  the  ocean  travel  farther  than  the  smaller 
waves,  and  are  less  consecutively  dissipated 
by  the  resistance  of  the  water,  the  traction 
of  its  molecules  and  the  occasional  diversion 
of  cross  disturbances  from  other  centers. 

Again  some  experiments  made  invacuo  upon 
a  limited  scale  seemed  to  show  the  accuracy 
of  his  predictions.  Through  a  glass  tube  one 
foot  in    diameter  and   ten   feet   long   we   sent 


45 


magnetic  waves  both  when  the  tube  was  filled 
with  air  and  when  it  was  exhausted.  Our 
means  of  measuring  the  time  required  in  both 
cases  were  quite  inadequate — perhaps  there 
was  no  appreciable  difference — but  the  records 
in  the  latter  case,  secured  upon  a  Morse 
register,  were  unmistakably  more  vigorous 
and  audible. 

At  last  our  various  results  had  reached  a 
point  where  we  felt  justified  in  extending  the 
limits  of  our  investigations.  We  had  up  to 
this  time  only  tried  our  messages  between 
the  two  stations  upon  the  plateau  of  Mt. 
Cook.  My  father  now  proposed  that  I  go  to 
Christ  Church,  install  a  sender  (transmitter) 
and  send  messages  to  him  at  the  observatory. 
I  did  so  and  the  experiment  was  convincing. 
The  day  before  I  was  ready  to  transmit  a 
message  I  had  attended  an  attractive  church 
service — it  was  toward  the  close  of  Lent  in 
the  year  1889 — and  as  my  father  was  entirely 
unprepared  for  the  account  I  proposed  to  give 
him  of  the  function,  I  thought  its  correct 
transmission  would  afford  an  indubitable  proof 
of  our  success.  I  wrote  out  the  description. 
It  was  received  by  my  father  with  only  ten 
imperfect  interpretations  in  a  list  of  1,000 
words. 

From  this  time  forward  our  plans  for  erect- 
ing a  receiver  in  the  observatory  were  pushed 


46 


to  a  completion.  We  had  discovered  the 
necessity  of  elevation  for  the  senders  (trans- 
mitters) and  receivers  for  long  distance 
work,  and  a  tall  mast,  fifty  feet  in  height, 
was  put  up  at  the  observatory,  which — need- 
lessly I  think — was  to  serve  as  the  terrestrial 
station  for  the  reception  of  those  viewless 
waves  which  my  father  thought  might  be  con- 
stantly breaking  unrecorded  upon  the  insen- 
sitive surfaces  of  our  earth. 

The  eventful  night  came.  It  was  August, 
1890.  Mars  was  then  in  opposition.  The 
evening  had  been  extremely  beautiful.  Na- 
ture united  in  her  mood  the  most  transport- 
ing contradictions  of  temperament.  It  was 
August  and  the  day  had  been  marked  by 
changes  of  almost  tropical  severity,  although, 
as  we  were  south  of  the  equator  (the  lati- 
tude of  Christ  Church  is  S.  44  degrees) 
August  was,  with  us,  mid- winter.  A  thun- 
derstorm had  broken  upon  us  in  the  morning, 
itself  an  unusual  meteorological  phenomenon, 
and  the  downpour  of  black  rain,  shutting  off 
the  views  and  enclosing  us  in  a  torrential  em- 
brace of  floods,  had  lasted  an  hour  when  it 
passed  away,  and  the  Sun  re-illumined  the 
wide  glistening  scene.  The  line  of  foam 
from  the  breakers  along  the  remote  shore,  yet 
lashing  with  curbing  crests  the  inlets,  promon- 
tories,   and    islands,    was    readily    seen;     the 


47 


northern  Alps  shone  in  their  ermine  robes, 
greatly  lengthened  and  deepened  by  the  sea- 
son's snows,  the  washed  country  side  below  us 
was  a  patch  work  of  rocks  and  fields  and 
denuded  forestland.  Christ  Church  like  a 
vision  of  whiteness  sprang  out  to  the  west  up- 
on our  vision,  and  immediately  about  us  the 
mingling  rivulets  poured  their  musical  streams 
through  and  over  the  icy  banks  of  half  con- 
solidated snow. 

As  night  came  up,  the  stars  seemed  almost 
to  pop  out  in  their  appropriate  places,  like 
those  6tellar  illusions  that  appear  so  appro- 
priately upon  the  theatrical  stage,  and  the  low 
lying  moon  sent  its  flickering  radiance  over  the 
yet  unsubdued  waters.  It  was  the  time  of 
the  opposition  of  Mars  which  brings  that 
planet  nearest  to  us.  As  is  well  known  to  as- 
tronomers, the  perihelion  of  Mars  is  in  the 
same  longitude  in  which  the  earth  is  on  August 
27;  and  when  an  opposition  occurs  near  that 
date,  the  planet  is  only  35  millions  of  miles 
from  the  earth,  and  this  is  the  closest  ap- 
proach which  their  bodies  can  ever  make. 

Our  magnetic  receiver  had  been  placed  in 
position,  the  Morse  register  was  attached ;  the 
whole  apparatus  was  in  one  of  the  upper  rooms 
of  the  observatory,  in  proximity  with  the  tele- 
scope through  whose  glass  for  days  we  had 
watched   the    approach   of   our   sister   planet. 


48 


As  the  night  settled  down  upon  us  we  had 
taken  our  seats  for  a  few  instants  at  a  table 
in  a  lower  room  engaged  in  one  of  those 
innumerable  desultory  talks  upon  our  project 
and  their,  even  to  us,  somewhat  problematic 
character.  Everything  connected  with  that 
evening,  apart  from  its  having  been  carefully 
recorded  in  my  diary  and  note-books,  is  very 
distinctly  remembered  by  me.  I  recall  my 
father  reading  from  a  letter  to  Nature,  May 
IS,  1884,  by  Mr.  W.  F.  Denning,  discussing 
"The  Rotation  Period  of  Mars."  From  my 
note-book  I  find  the  passage  literally  tran- 
scribed : 

It  read — "Notwithstanding  his  comparatively 
small  diameter  and  its  slow  axial  motion,  the 
planet  Mars  affords  especial  facilities  for  the 
exact  determination  of  the  rotation  period. 
Indeed,  no  other  planet  appears  to  be  so  fa- 
vorably circumstanced  in  this  respect,  for  the 
chief  markings  on  Mars  have  been  percepti- 
ble with  the  same  definiteness  of  outline  and 
characteristics  of  form  through  many  succeed- 
ing generations,  whereas  the  features,  such  as 
we  discern  on  the  other  planets,  are  either  tem- 
porary, atmospheric  phenonema,  or  rendered 
so  indistinct  by  unfavorable  conditions  as  to 
defy  measurement  and  observation.  More- 
over, it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the 
features  of  Mars  are  permanent  objects  on  the 


49 


actual  surface  of  the  planet,  whereas  the  mark- 
ings displayed  by  our  telescopes  on  some  of 
the  other  planetary  members  of  our  system 
are  mere  effects  of  atmospheric  changes, 
which,  though  visible  for  several  years  and 
showing  well  defined  periods  of  rotation  can- 
not be  accepted  as  affording  the  true  periods. 
The  behavior  of  the  red  spot  on  Jupiter  may 
closely  intimate  the  actual  motion  of  the 
sphere  of  that  planet,  but  markings  of  such 
variable,  unstable  character  can  hardly  exhibit 
an  exact  conformity  of  motion  with  the  sur- 
face upon  which  they  are  seen  to  be  pro- 
jected. With  respect  to  Mars'  case,  it  is  en- 
tirely different.  No  substantial  changes  in  the 
most  conspicuous  features  have  been  detected 
since  they  were  first  confronted  with  tele- 
scopic power  and  we  do  not  anticipate  that 
there  will  be  any  material  difference  in  their 
general  configurations. 

"The  same  markings  which  were  indistinctly 
revealed  to  the  eyes  of  Fontana  and  Huyghens 
in  1636  and  1659  will  continue  to  be  displayed 
to  the  astronomers  of  succeeding  generations, 
though  with  greater  fullness  and  perspicuity 
owing  to  improved  means.  True,  there  may 
possibly  be  variations  in  progress  as  regards 
some"  of  the  minor  features,  for  it  has  been 
suggested  that  the  visibility  of  certain  spots 
has  varied  in  a  manner  which  cannot  be  sat- 


50 


isfactorily  accounted  for  on  ordinary  grounds. 
These  may  possibly  be  due  to  atmospheric 
effects  on  the  planet  itself,  but  in  many  cases 
the  alleged  variations  have  doubtless  been 
more  imaginary  than  real.  The  changes  in  our 
own  climate  are  so  rapid  and  striking,  and  oc- 
casion such  abnormal  appearances  in  celestial 
objects  that  we  are  frequently  led  to  infer 
actual  changes  where  none  have  taken  place ; 
in  fact,  observers  cannot  be  too  careful  to 
consider  the  origin  of  such  differences  and  to 
look  nearer  home  for  some  of  the  discordances 
which  may  have  become  apparent  in  their  re- 
sults." 

It  was  just  as  he  finished  reading  this  ex- 
tract that  the  shrill  fluttering  call  of  the  maxy 
bird  was  heard  from  the  bare  branches  of  a 
poplar  near  the  station,  and  in  the  next  instant, 
in  that  intense  quiet  that  succeeds  sometimes  a 
sudden  unexpected  and  acute  accent,  the  Morse 
register  was  audible  above  us,  clicking  with  a 
continuity  and  evident  intention  that,  weighted 
as  we  were  with  vague  sensational  hopes, 
drew  the  blood  from  our  faces,  and  seemed 
almost  like  a  voice  from  the  red  orb  then 
glowing  in  the  southeastern  sky.  We  sprang 
together  up  the  stairs  to  the  operating-room 
and  saw  with  our  eyes  the  moving  lever  of  the 
little  Morse  machine.  We  had  made  ourselves 
familiar   with   the   ordinary   telegraphic   codes, 


51 


the  international  Telegraphic  Code  and  that 
in  use  in  Canada  and  the  United  States.  They 
were  useless.  The  succession  of  short  or  long 
intervals  was  entirely  different  and  the  mes- 
sage, if  message  it  was,  defied  our  persistent 
efforts  at  translation.  The  disturbance  of  the 
register  continued  some  three  hours,  and 
though  we  were  unmistakably  in  communica- 
tion with  some  external  regulated  and  inten- 
tional source  of  magnetic  impulses  we  were 
hopelessly  confused  as  to  their  meaning. 

I  can  never  forget  our  excitement.  We  were 
certainly  the  recipient  of  exact  careful  con- 
scious messages.  Their  terrestrial  origin, 
strange  and  incredible  as  it  might  appear,  did 
not  seem  likely,  for  the  two  codes  so  generally 
in  use  were  not  represented  in  it.  Could  it 
be — the  thought  seemed  to  stop  the  beating  of 
our  hearts — could  it  be  that  we  had  indeed 
received  an  extra-terrestrial  communication? 
The  register  of  the  dots  and  dashes  cannot  be 
all  reproduced  here,  though  a  very  long  record 
of  them,  indeed  almost  complete,  was  made 
by  myself.  During  the  whole  time  that  the 
register  moved  hardly  a  word  of  conversation 
escaped  our  lips.  We  were  fixed  in  mute 
amazement.  We  were  full  of  unexpressed 
imaginings,  which  were  told,  however  in  my 
father's  face,  so  flushed  with  eagerness,  as  with 
half-parted  lips  he  bent   over   the   instrument 


52 


or  interrupted  his  attention  by  walking  to  the 
window  and  gazing  far  out  into  the  heavens. 

The  record  we  obtained  is  here  reproduced, 
in  part,  as  the  whole  would  occupy  altogether 
too  much  space.  I  am  interested  in  giving  it 
as  it  may  effectually  remain  a  proof  of  my 
sincerity  in  this  matter,  and  will,  I  have  the 
firm  conviction,  be  repeated  in  the  future,  not 
exactly  or  at  all,  as  I  have  written  it,  but  some 
message  similarly  received  will  corroborate  the 
statement  here  made,  and  the  still  further 
marvellous  facts  I  am  yet  to  relate. 

The  record  I  will  select  for  reproduction  is 
as  follows: 


58 


CHAPTER  II. 

As  I  now  know  there  is  a  Martian  language, 
if  this  communication  came  from  that  planet, 
which  was  my  own  and  my  father's  deepest 
conviction,  it  would  be  impossible  to  interpret 
the  foregoing  record  with  any  certainty,  or  in- 
deed, in  any  way.  Absolute  ignorance  of  that 
language,  except  the  brief  mention  in  my 
father's  communications,  received  by  myself 
from  that  body — whose  publication  before  I 
die  is  the  sole  purpose  of  this  manuscript — 
make  it  quite  certain  that  it  is  in  the  main  a 
vowel  language,  consisting  of  short  vocalic 
syllables.  In  such  a  case  it  is  probable  that 
some  abbreviation  has  been  used,  and  the  prob- 
lem of  its  resolution  simply  is  placed  out  of  the 
question.  I  may  here  partially  forestall  the 
facts  communicated  to  me  by  my  father  from 
Mars.  In  those  unparalleled  messages  he  has 
told  me  of  the  desire  of  the  Martians  to  com- 
municate with  the  earth,  and  as  the  Martians 
themselves  are  largely  made  up  of  transplanted 
human  spirits,  the  possibility  of  doing  so 
would   have    been    completely    expected.      But 


54 


the  singular  evanescence  of  memory  amongst 
these  humans  which  absolutely  displaces  de- 
tails of  strictly  mnemonic  acquirements,  except 
in  certain  directions  of  art  and  invention,  has 
apparently  precluded  this. 

We  remained  at  the  register  almost  the  en- 
tire night  taking  turns  in  our  tireless  vigil. 
But  no  more  disturbances  occurred.  My  father 
was  deeply  moved  and  I  scarcely  less  so. 
Accustomed  as  we  had  become  to  the  thought 
that  wireless  telegraphy  would  place  us  more 
readily  in  touch  with  the  sidereal  universe  than 
with  distant  points  upon  our  earth,  presuming 
indeed,  that,  except  for  the  intervening  en- 
velopes of  atmosphere  attached  to  our  or  any 
neighboring  planet,  the  path  of  transmission  of 
messages  through  space  would  be  inconceiva- 
bly swift,  we  saw  nothing  really  impossible 
in  the  impression  that  we  had  that  night  re- 
ceived communications  from  extra-terrestrial 
sources. 

The  thought  was  none  the  less  stupendous, 
and  it  seemed  almost  impossible  for  us  to  al- 
lude to  the  subject  without  a  peculiar  sense 
of  reverential  self-suppression,  at  least  for  a 
week  or  so.  Examination  and  inquiry  showed 
us  no  contiguous  source  of  the  message  and  it 
seemed  most  improbable  that  it  had  come  to 
us  from  any  distant  part  of  the  earth,  as  we 
had  become  acquainted  with  the  difficulty  or 


55 


impossibility  of  bridging  our  very  great  dis- 
tances with  the  resources  then  at  human  com- 
mand, and  with  the  unavoidable  exigence  of 
the  earth's  convexity. 

It  was  a  few  months  after  this  that  my 
father,  returning  from  a  climb  in  the  neighbor- 
ing hills,  complained  of  great  weariness  and  a 
sort  of  mild  vertigo.  I  had  become  exceed- 
ingly endeared  to  him.  I  found  him  a  most 
unusual  companion,  and  unnaturally  separated 
as  I  had  been  from  more  ordinary  associations, 
our  lives  had  assumed  an  almost  fraternal  ten- 
derness. 

I  was  greatly  troubled  to  see  my  father's 
illness,  and  begged  him  to  take  rest ;  indeed,  to 
leave  the  observatory  for  a  while;  to  visit 
Christ  Church.  We  had  made  some  very  con- 
genial acquaintances  in  Christ  Church.  A 
family  of  Tontines  and  a  gentleman  and  his 
daughter  by  the  name  of  Dodan  had  often 
visited  us,  and  while  we  had  become  some- 
what a  subject  of  perennial  curiosity,  and 
were  more  or  less  visited  by  curiosity  hunters 
and  others,  actuated  by  more  intelligent  mo- 
tives, the  Tontines  and  the  Dodans  remained 
our  only  very  intimate  friends. 

Indeed,  Miss  Dodan  had  come  to  me.  buried 
in  scientific  speculations  and  denied  hitherto 
all  female  acquaintances,  like  a  beam  of  light 


56 


through  a  sky  not  at  all  dark,  but  gray  and 
pensive  and  sometimes  almost  irksome.  Miss 
Katharine  Dodan  was  gentle,  pretty,  and  un- 
affectedly enthusiastic.  Her  interest  in  all 
the  equipment  of  our  laboratories  was  bound- 
less. When  I  found  myself  alone  with  her  at 
the  big  telescope  adjusting  everything  with — 
oh !  such  exquisite  precision — and  then  some- 
times discovered  my  hand  resting  upon  hers, 
or  my  head  touching  those  silken  brown 
curves  of  hair  that  framed  her  white  brow  and 
reddening  cheeks,  the  throbbing  pleasure  was 
so  sweet,  so  unexpected,  so  strange,  that  I  felt 
a  new  desire  rise  in  my  heart,  and  the  new- 
ness of  life  lifted  me  for  a  moment  out  of 
myself,  and  started  those  fires  of  ambition 
and  hope  that  only  a  lovely  woman  can  awaken 
in  the  heart  of  a  man.  I  mention  this  circum- 
stance that  led  to  the  fatal  train  of  occur- 
rences that  led  to  my  father's  death. 

I  urged  my  father  to  go  to  Christ  Church 
and  stay  with  the  Dodans.  Mr.  Dodan  had 
frequently  invited  him,  and  Miss  Dodan's 
brightness  and  her  cheerful  art  at  the  piano 
would,  I  know,  cheer  him,  inured  too  long  to 
his  lonely  life,  subject  to  the  periodic  returns 
of  that  bitter  sadness,  which  was  now  only  ac- 
centuated by  his  self-imposed  exile  from  the 
home  and  scenes  of  his  former  happiness. 

He  at  last  consented,  and  in  October,  1891, 


57 


accompanied  by  the  Dodans,  whom  he  had 
summoned  from  Christ  Church,  he  went  down 
the  steep  hillside  that  slanted  from  our 
plateau  to  the  lowlands,  and  was  soon  lost 
from  view  in  a  turn  of  the  road,  which  also 
robbed  me  of  the  sight  of  a  waving,  small 
white  handkerchief,  floating  in  front  of  a  half- 
loosened  pile  of  chestnut  hair. 

A  few  days  later  I  received  a  visit  from 
Miss  Dodan.  I  was  then  working  at  some 
photographs  in  the  dark  room.  My  assistant 
told  me  of  her  arrival.  I  hurried  to  our  little 
reception  room  and  library,  where  a  few  of 
my  father's  "Worthies  of  Science"  decorated 
the  walls,  which  for  the  most  part  were  cov- 
ered with  irregular  book  cases,  while  a  long 
square  covered  table  occupied  the  center  of 
the  room,  littered  with  charts,  maps,  journals 
and  daily  papers. 

Miss  Dodan  sat  near  the  wide  window  look- 
ing toward  Christ  Church  and  the  quickly 
descending  road  over  which  only  a  few  days 
ago  my  father  had  journeyed.  I  caught  in  her 
face,  as  I  entered,  an  anxious  and  disturbed 
glance,  and  I  felt  almost  instantly  an  intima- 
tion of  disaster.  She  turned  to  me  as  I  came 
into  the  room  and  with  a  quick  movement 
advanced. 

"Mr.  Dodd,  your  father  is  ill.  I  hardly  know 
what   is   the   matter   with   him.      He   is    quite 


58 


strange ;  does  not  know  us  when  we  talk  to 
him,  and  wanders  in  a  talk  about  'magnetic 
waves'  and  'his  wife'  and  'different  code.' 
Won't  you  come  to  see  him?  You  may 
help  him  greatly." 

The  kind,  clear  eyes  looked  up  into  mine 
and  the  impulse  of  real  sympathy  as  she 
pressed  my  hand  seemed  unmistakable.  I 
asked  a  few  questions  and  was  convinced 
that  my  father  was  the  victim  of  some  sort  of 
shock,  perhaps  precipitated  by  the  continuous 
excitement  caused  by  our  unaccountable  ex- 
perience in  the  observatory. 

I  was  but  a  few  moments  getting  ready  for 
the  drive  to  Christ  Church.  I  remember  the 
cold,  crisp  air,  the  rapid  motion,  and  can  I  ever 
forget  it — the  nearness  and  touch  of  Miss  Do- 
dan's  person,  perhaps  only  a  hurried  brushing 
past  me  of  her  arm,  the  stray  touch  of  her 
floating  hair,  or  the  accidental  stubbing  of  her 
foot  against  my  own.  It  seemed  a  short,  de- 
licious drive.  I  fear  my  heart  was  almost 
equally  divided  between  apprehension  for  my 
father's  health  and  the  joy  of  simple  near- 
ness to  the  woman  I  loved.  At  last  we  reached 
Christ  Church.  The  Dodans  lived  in  the  sub- 
urbs in  a  pretty  villa  on  a  high  hill,  from  whose 
top  the  city  lay  spread  before  them  in  its  mod- 
est extent  with  its  neighboring  places  and  Port 
Lyttelon  eight  miles  away. 


59 


I  found  my  father  better,  but  it  required 
my  own  zeal  and  affection  to  thoroughly  re- 
store him,  and  bring  him  back  to  his  character- 
istic interest  and  alertness,  which  made  him  so 
original  and  delightful  a  companion.  At 
length,  by  a  week's  nursing,  during  which  Miss 
Dodan  and  myself  we're  frequently  together, 
becoming  more  and  more  attached  to  each 
other,  my  father  renewed  his  wonted  studies, 
and  strongly  desired  to  return  to  the  "plateau." 

I  almost  regretted,  harsh  as  the  thought 
may  seem,  our  return.  Such  incidents  are  now 
a  kind  of  sweet  sadness  to  recall,  for  as  I  write 
these  words,  I  hear  nearer  and  nearer  the  sum- 
mons that  must  put  me  also  in  the  spirit 
world,  while  she,  in  whose  heart  my  own  trust- 
ingly lived,  has  been  taken  away,  I  think 
wisely  and  prudently,  to  live  with  her  father's 
people  in  a  charming,  rustic  village  of  Devon- 
shire. But  oh !  so  far  away !  and  this  picture 
which  daily  I  draw  from  beneath  the  pillow 
of  my  sick  couch  must  alone  serve  to  replace 
the  companionship  of  her  face  and  voice. 

I  can  permit  myself  in  this  last  record 
of  an  unrecoverable  past  to  describe  a  treas- 
ured incident  just  before  I  left  the  Dodan 
home  with  my  father.  I  was  coming  out  of 
my  room  when  I  found  Miss  Dodan  also 
emerging  from  her  own  bedroom  at  the  op- 
posite  end   of  an   upper   hall.     We   met   and 


60 


I  said :  "Miss  Dodan,  it  is  a  treacherous  con- 
fession, but  I  wish  you  were  going  back  with 
us,  or  that  my  father  would  stay  a  little  longer 
here.     I  shall  miss  you." 

"Yes,"  she  answered.  "Aren't  you  a  good 
nurse?" 

"Oh,  I  think  you  need  not  misunderstand 
me,"  I  insisted. 

"Misunderstanding  is  rather  an  English 
trait,  you  Americans  say,"  she  retorted. 

"But  in  this  case,"  I  continued,  "I  hoped 
any  disadvantages  of  that  sort  would  be  over- 
come by  your  own  feelings." 

She  blushed  and  looked  quite  dauntlessly 
into  my  eyes :  "You  mean,"  she  inquired,  "that 
you  are  sorry  to  leave  me?" 

My  face  was  very  red,  I  knew,  and  I  felt  a 
puzzling  sensation  in  my  throat,  but  I  did  not 
hesitate :  "Of  course,  I  am  sorry  to  leave  you, 
more  sorry  than  I  can  say,  but  I  fear  more, 
that  leaving  you  may  mean  losing  you." 

This  time  confusion  seemed  struggling  with 
a  pleased  mirth  in  her  face,  and  with  a  laugh 
and  a  quick  movement  toward  the  stairway 
she  exclaimed:  "Well,  Americans,  they  say, 
never  lose  what  they  really  care  to  win." 

I  darted  forward,  but  she  was  too  quick 
for  me  and  the  chase  ended  in  the  lowor  hall 
in  a  group  of  people — her  parents,  my  father, 
visitors  and  servants — and  I  saw  her  disappear 


61 


with  a  backward  glance,  in  which,  I  could 
swear,  I  saw  two  pouting  lips. 

My  father  was  overjoyed  to  return  to  our 
really  very  comfortable  quarters  on  "Martian 
Hill,"  as  Mr.  Dodan,  in  reference  to  my 
father's  infatuation  over  his  imaginary  (?) 
population  of  Mars,  was  accustomed  to  call 
our  professional  home. 

It  was,  I  think,  only  a  few  weeks  after  this 
that  my  father  called  me  to  his  room.  He 
was  standing  in  his  morning  apparel,  a  strange 
garb  which  he  sometimes  affected,  made  up 
of  a  black  velvet  gown  brought  together  at 
the  waist  by  a  stout  yellow  cord,  a  bright  red 
skull  cap,  a  sort  of  sandal  shoe,  picked  out 
with  silver  ornaments,  his  arms  covered  with 
loose,  puckered  sleeves  of  lace,  dotted  with 
black  extending  up  to  the  close  fitting  sleeves 
of  the  velvet  gown  which  only  descended  to 
his  elbow.  Beneath  the  gown,  when  he  was 
thus  theatrically  attired,  he  wore  a  shirt  of 
pale  blue  silk  with  a  flat  collar,  over  which 
came  a  black  vest  meeting  his  black  trunks  and 
blue  hose. 

My  father  was  a  really  striking  and  beauti- 
ful picture  in  his  incongruous  habiliment.  His 
strong  and  thoughtful  face,  over  which  yet 
clustered  the  curly  hair  of  boyhood,  just 
touched  with  gray,  lit  up  by  his  earnest,  sad 
eyes,    seemed — how    distinctly    I    recall    it — 


63 


almost  ideally  lovely  that  morning,  and  I  com- 
pared him  in  my  thoughts  with  the  father  of 
Romola.  only  as  wearing  a  more  youthful  ex- 
pression. He  was  seated  when  I  came  in,  and 
as  his  eyes  encountered  mine,  I  detected  the 
traces  of  tears  upon  his  cheeks.  My  heart 
was  full  of  love  for  my  father,  or  childlike 
adoration  it  might  have  been  called.  I  hur- 
ried to  him  and  embraced  him.  The  tender- 
ness overcame  his  habitual  self-restraint  and 
he  seemed  to  fall  sobbing  in  my  arms. 

"My  son,"  he  finally  whispered,  "my  days 
are  drawing  very  fast  to  a  close.  The  shock 
I  experienced  at  Christ  Church  prepared  me 
to  believe  I  would  die  in  some  attack  of 
paralysis.  A  slight  aphasia  occurred  this 
morning.  It.  too,  as  suddenly  disappeared. 
But  these  warnings  cannot  be  neglected.  I 
and  you  must  at  once  make  preparations  for 
that  future  colloquy  which  we  must  endeavor 
to  establish  between  ourselves,  when  I  have 
left  this  earth  and  you  yet  remain  upon  it. 

"I  have  been  thinking  a  good  deal  on  this 
subject  and  my  reflections  have  resulted  in 
this  conclusion." 

His  voice  had  now  resumed  its  usual  mel- 
ody and  power,  and  we  sat  down  while  he 
turned  the  pages  of  Prof.  Bain's  little  work 
entitled  "Mind  and  Body."  He  read  (I 
marked  at  the  time  the  passage)  :  "The  mem- 


63 


ory  rises  and  falls  with  the  bodily  condition ; 
being  vigorous  in  our  fresh  moments  and  fee- 
ble when  we  are  fatigued  or  exhausted.  It 
is  related  by  Sir  Henry  Holland  that  on  one 
occasion  he  descended,  on  the  same  day,  two 
mines  in  the  Hartz  Mountains,  remaining 
some  hours  in  each.  In  the  second  mine  he 
was  so  exhausted  with  inanition  and  fatigue, 
that  his  memory  utterly  failed  him;  he  could 
not  recollect  a  single  word  of  German.  The 
power  came  back  after  taking  food  and  wine. 
Old  age  notoriously  impairs  the  memory  in 
ninety-nine  men  out  of  a  hundred." 

My  father  then  continued :  "It  seems  to 
me  quite  clear  that  our  memory,  at  any  rate, 
however  little  of  our  other  mental  attributes 
is  engaged  in  matter,  is  quite  constructed  in 
a  series  of  molecular  arrangements  of  our 
nervous  tissues.  No  doubt  there  is  memory 
also  in  that  subtle  fluid  that  survives  death, 
but,  inasmuch  as  memory  is  so  closely  ex- 
pressed in  physical  or  material  units  or  ele- 
ments, does  it  not  seem  plain  that  as  spirits 
we  shall  probably  lose  memory? 

"The  material  structure  in  which  it  existed, 
which  in  a  sense  was  memory  itself,  is  dissi- 
pated by  death.  Memory  disappears  with  it. 
But  perhaps  not  wholly.  Some  shadow  of 
itself  remains.  What  will  most  likely  be 
treasured  then?    The  strongest,  deepest  memo- 


64 


ries  only.  Those  which  are  so  subjectively 
strong  as  to  leave  even  in  the  spirit  flesh  an 
impression.  In  this  same  little  book  of  Bain's 
this  sentence  occurs :  'Retention,  Acquisition, 
or  Memory,  then,  being  the  power  of  continu- 
ing in  the  mind,  impressions  that  are  no  longer 
stimulated  by  the  original  agent,  and  of  recall- 
ing them  at  after-times  by  purely  mental  forces, 
I  shall  remark  first  on  the  cerebral  seat  of 
those  renewed  impressions.  It  must  be  con- 
sidered as  almost  beyond  a  doubt  that  the 
renewed  feeling  occupies  the  very  same  parts, 
and  in  the  same  manner  as  the  original  feeling, 
and  no  other  parts,  nor  in  any  other  manner 
that  can  be  assigned.' 

"It  seems  to  me,  my  son,  in  view  of  all  this, 
that,  as  the  fondest  hope  of  my  life  is  to  send 
back  to  you  from  wherever  I  may  be,  a  mes- 
sage, and  as  we  both  believe  the  means  must 
be  something  like  this  wireless  telegraphy, 
I  must  imbed  in  my  mind  the  whole  system  we 
have  developed,  and  especially  make  myself 
almost  intuitively  familiar  with  the  Morse  al- 
phabet. Beating,  beating,  beating  upon  my 
brain  substance  this  ceaselessly  reiterated  me- 
chanical language,  it  will  become  so  incorpora- 
ted, that  even  in  the  surviving  mind  I  shall 
find  its  traces  and  be  able  to  use  it. 

"So  I  have  concluded  to  put  aside  almost 
everything    else    and    think    and    live    in    the 


65 


thought  only  of  this  coming  experience.  You 
understand  me?  You  sympathize  in  this? 
Yes,  yes,  I  shall  get  ready  for  this  supreme 
experiment  which  may  at  last,  to  a  long  wait- 
ing world,  bring  some  reasonable  assurance 
that  death  does  not  end  all.  As  I  think  of  it, 
as  I  look  forward  to  meeting  your  mother,  the 
whole  prospect  of  death  grows  wonderfully  in- 
teresting and  sublimely  welcome.  And  yet, 
my  son,  you,  you  who  have  been  so  patient, 
so  kind,  giving  up  your  life  for  my  con- 
venience and  pleasure,  I  dread  to  leave  you. 
But  I  will  speak  to  you  !  Watch  !  wait !  and  at 
that  instrument  upstairs,  which  I  know  re- 
sponded to  some  waves  of  magnetism  cross- 
ing the  oceans  of  space,  I  shall  be  heard  by 
you  in  English  words,  opening  up  the  myste- 
ries of  other  worlds !" 

He  stopped  in  sheer  exhaustion  with  his 
whole  face  charged  with  almost  frantic  ec- 
stacy.  It  seemed  to  me  so  natural,  nurtured 
in  the  same  impossible  dreams,  that  I  saw 
nothing  ludicrous  in  his  hopes. 

From  that  day  on  we  gave  ourselves  up  to 
telegraphing  from  our  two  stations,  while  my 
father  again  and  again  consulted  models  of 
our  transmitters  and  receivers.  This  excite- 
ment lasted  a  long  time  and  it  did  seem  psy- 
chologically certain  that  in  any  disembodied 
condition  my  father  would  be  likely  to  recall 


66 

some  important  parts  or  all  of  this  well  learned 
lesson. 

For  years  my  father,  as  I  mentioned  before, 
in  his  astronomical  studies,  had  limited  him- 
self to  the  study,  photography  and  drawing  of 
the  surfaces  of  our  planetary  neighbors.  Mars 
particularly  fascinated  him,  for  he  had,  by 
some  illusion  or  accident  of  thought  fixed  his 
belief  firmly  that  Mars  represented  his  future 
post  mortem  home. 

The  progress  of  study  of  the  physical  fea- 
tures of  Mars  had  been  considerable.  With 
these  results  my  father  and  I  were  very  fa- 
miliar, had  been  in  correspondence  with  cer- 
tain astronomical  centers  with  regard  to  them, 
and  had  even  contributed  something  toward 
the  elucidation  of  the  problems  thus  presented. 

In  1884,  before  the  Royal  Society,  some  notes 
on  the  aspect  of  Mars,  by  Otto  Baeddicker, 
were  read  by  the  Earl  of  Rosse.  They  were 
accompanied  by  thirteen  drawings  of  the  planet 
and  showed  many  features  represented  on  the 
Schiaparelli  charts.  W,  F.  Denning  in  1885, 
remarked  upon  "the  seeming  permanency  of 
the  chief  lineaments  on  Mars,  and  their  dis- 
tinctiveness of  outline."  Schiaparelli  con- 
firmed his  previous  observations  upon  the  du- 
plications of  the  canals  and  Mr.  Knobel  pub- 
lished some  sketches. 

In  1886,  M.  Terby  presented  to   the   Roval 


67 


Academy  of  Belgium  notes  on  drawings  made 
by  Herschel  and  Schroeter,  indicating  the 
so-called  Kaiser  Sea.  M.  Perrotin  at  the  Nice 
Observatory  was  able  to  redetect  Schiaparelli's 
canals,  which  elicited  the  remark  that  "the  re- 
ality of  the  existence  of  the  delicate  markings 
discovered  by  the'  keen-sighted  astronomer  of 
Brera  seems  thus  fully  demonstrated,  and  it 
appears  highly  probable  that  they  vary  in  shape 
and  distinctness  with  the  changes  of  the  Mar- 
tial seasons." 

These  observations  of  M.  Perrotin  were  de- 
tailed at  length  in  the  Bulletin  Astronomique, 
and  the  distinguished  observer  called  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  these  markings  varied  but 
slightly  from  Schiaparelli's  chart,  and  indi- 
cated a  state  of  things  of  considerable  stability 
in  the  equatorial  region  of  Mars.  M.  Perrotin 
recorded  changes  in  the  Kaiser  Sea  (Schiapa- 
relli's Syrtis  Major).  This  spot,  usually  dark, 
was  seen  on  May  21,  1886,  "to  be  covered  with 
a  luminous  cloud  forming  regular  and  parallel 
bands,  stretching  from  northwest  to  south- 
east on  the  surface,  in  color  somewhat  similar 
to  that  of  the  continents  but  not  quite  so 
bright."  These  cloud-like  coverings  were  later 
more  distributed  and  on  the  three  following 
days  diminished  greatly  in  intensity.  They 
were  referred  by  Perrotin  to  clouds. 

In    March    and    April    of    the    year    1886 


68 


a  study  was  made  of  the  surface  of  Mars  by 
W.  F.  Denning  in  England.  Mr.  Denning's 
drawings  corroborated  the  charts  of  Green, 
Schiaparelli,  Knobel,  Terby  and  Baeddicker. 
He  found  the  surface  of  Mars  one  of  extreme 
complexity,  a  multitude  of  bright  spots  in 
places,  but  with  a  general  fixity  of  character 
which  led  him  to  believe  that  the  appearances 
were  not  atmospheric.  He  indeed  attributed 
to  Mars  an  attenuated  atmosphere  and  thought 
that  some  of  the  vagaries  in  its  surface 
characters  were  due  to  variations  in  our  own 
atmosphere'.  He  did  not  find  the  Schia- 
parelli canals  as  distinct  in  outline  as  given 
by  that  ingenious  observer.  He  noted  many 
brilliant  spots  on  Mars  and  indicated  the  dis- 
turbing influences  of  vibrations  produced  by 
winds  on  the  surface  of  our  earth  in  connec- 
tion with  changes  in  the  earth's  atmospheric 
envelope. 

In  1888  M.  Perrotin  continued  his  observa- 
tions on  the  channels  of  Mars  and  noted 
changes.  The  triangular  continent  (Lydia  of 
Schiaparelli)  had  disappeared,  its  reddish 
white  tint  indicating,  or  supposed  to  indicate, 
land,  was  then  replaced  by  the  black  or  blue 
color  of  the  seas  of  Mars.  New  channels 
were  observed,  some  of  them  in  "direct  con- 
tinuation" with  channels  previously  observed, 
amongst  these  an  apparent  channel  through  the 


69 


polar  ice  cap.  Some  of  these  seemed  double, 
running  from  near  the  equator  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  North  Pole.  The  place  called 
Lydia  disappeared  and  reappeared.  A  strange 
puzzling  statement  was  made  that  the  canals 
could  be  traced  straight  across  seas  and  con- 
tinents in  the  line  of  the  meridian.  M.  Terby 
confirmed  many  of  these  observations.  Later 
the  so-called  "inundation  of  Lydia,"  observed 
by  M.  Perrotin,  was  doubted.  Schiaparelli 
himself,  Terby,  Niesten  at  Brussels,  and 
Holden  at  the  Lick  Observatory,  failed  to 
remark  this  change.  These  observers  did  not 
double  the  canals  satisfactorily,  but  all  agreed 
upon  the  striking  whiteness  and  brightness  of 
the  planet. 

M.  Fizeau  (1888)  argued  that  the  Schia- 
parelli canals  were  really  glacial  phenomena, 
being  ridges,  crevasses,  rectilinear  fissures, 
etc.,  of  continental  masses  of  ice.  Again 
(Bulletin  de  l'Academie  Royale  de  Belgique, 
June)  M.  Nesten  averred  that  the  changes  on 
the  surface  of  Mars  were  periodic. 

In  1889,  Prof.  Schiaparelli  reviewed  what  had 
been  observed  upon  the  surface  of  the  planet 
in  a  continued  article  in  Himmel  und  Erde, 
a  popular  astronomical  journal  published  by 
the  Gesellschaft  Urania  and  edited  by  Dr. 
Meyer. 

Some  remarkable  photographs  taken  by  Mr. 


70 


Wilson  in  1890  were  commented  on  by  Prof. 
W.  H.  Pickering  in  the  "Sidereal  Messenger." 
They  showed  the  seasonal  variations  in  the 
polar  white  blotches. 

In  1889  there  reached  us  from  Chatto  and 
Windus  of  London  a  most  entertaining  book 
by  Hugh  MacColl,  entitled  "Mr.  Stranger's 
Sealed  Packet."  It  was  a  work  of  fancy,  in- 
geniously constructed  upon  scientific  princi- 
ples. It  described  a  hypothetical  machine,  a 
flying  machine,  which  was  made  up  of  a  sub- 
stance more  than  half  of  whose  mass  had  been 
converted  into  repelling  particles.  Such  a  fab- 
ric would  leave  the  earth,  pass  the  limits  of  its 
attraction  with  an  accelerating  velocity  and 
move  through  space.  In  such  a  way  Mr. 
Stranger  reached  Mars.  He  found  it  inhabited 
by  a  people — the  Marticoli — happy  in  a  state  of 
socialism,  and  with  abundance  of  food  manu- 
factured from  the  elements,  oxygen,  hydrogen, 
carbon  and  nitrogen,  with  electric  lights,  pho- 
netic speech,  but  without  gunpowder  or  tele- 
scopes. 

Its  inhabitants  had  been  derived  from  the 
earth  by  a  most  delightful  scientific  fabrica- 
tion. A  sun  and  its  satellites  in  its  course 
around  some  other  center  draws  the  earth  and 
Mars  so  together  that  on  some  parts  of  the 
earth's  surface  the  attraction  of  Mars  would 
overcome  that   of  the  earth   and  gently   suck 


71 


up  to  itself  inhabitants  from  the  earth,  who 
would  not  suffer  death  from  loss  of  air,  as  the 
atmosphere  of  both  bodies  would  be  mingled. 

These  observations  and  this  last  scientific 
myth  have  some  interest  in  view  of  the  actual 
knowledge'  now  vouchsafed  to  the  world 
trough  my  father's  messages.  I  have  very 
briefly  reviewed  them. 

My  father's  premonitions  were  fully  realized. 
He  grew  sensibly  weaker  as  the  months  of 
1891  passed.  His  mind  became  eager  with  the 
cherished  expectation  whi^h  grew  day  by  day 
into  a  sort  of  a  mild  possession.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  there  was  a  moderate  aberration 
involved  in  his  deeply  seated  convictions,  and 
when  sometimes  I  saw  him  walking  past  the 
windows  on  the  plateau  with  his  head  thrown 
back,  his  arms  outstretched  as  if  he  were  invit- 
ing the  stars  to  take  him,  and  his  murmur- 
ing voice,  repeating  some  snatches  of  song,  I 
felt  awed  and  frightened. 

My  father  was  stricken  with  paralysis  on 
September  21,  1892,  became  speechless  the 
following  day,  but  for  a  day  thereafter  wrote 
on  a  pad  his  last  directions.  Some  of  these 
were  quite  personal,  and  need  not  be  detailed 
here.  It  was  indeed  pathetic  to  see  his  stren- 
uous and  repeated  efforts  to  assure  me  that  he 
remembered  all  the  parts  of  the  telegraphic 
apparatus,  and  his  smile  of  saddened  self-de- 


72 


preciation  when  he  hesitated  over  soras,  de- 
tail. At  last  he  sank  into  a  torpor  with  the 
usual  stertorous  breathing,  flushed  face  and 
gradually  chilled  extremities.  His  last  words 
were  scrawled  almost  illegibly  by  his  failing 
hand — "Remember,  watch,  wait,  I  will  send 
the  messages." 

Miss  Dodan  came  to  the  plateau  and  was 
helpful ;  to  me  especially.  She  kept  up  my 
breaking  spirits,  and  her  womanly  tenderness, 
her  brave  grace,  and  the  joy  my  loving  heart 
felt  in  seeing  her,  enabled  me  to  go  through 
the  trial  of  death  and  separation. 

All  was  finished.  My  father  was  buried  in 
Christ  Church  cemetery  by  his  own  request, 
although  thus  separated  by  a  hemisphere  from 
his  wife'. 

A  year  had  passed.  I  had  received  nothing. 
Mr.  and  Miss  Dodan  came  to  the  observa- 
tory. They  both  were  acquainted  with  the 
singular  prepossessions  which  controlled  both 
myself  and  my  father,  and  I  think  Mr.  Dodan 
was  himself,  though  he  admitted  nothing, 
most  curious  and  interested  in  the  whole  mat- 
ter. Miss  Dodan  frankly  said  she  was.  But 
I  know,  to  Miss  Dodan's  fresh,  healthy,  hu- 
man life  there  was  something  weirdly  repellent 
in  this  thought  of  communication  with  the 
dead.     She  thought  of  it  with  a  nervous  dread 


73 


and  excitement.  It  just  kept  me  in  her 
thoughts  a  little  shrouded  in  mystery  and  su- 
periority and  closed  a  little  the  avenues  of  ab- 
solute confidence  and  peaceful  self-surrender. 

I  had  forgotten  nothing,  although  at  first  an 
overwhelming  sense  of  the  uselessness  of  the 
attempt,  the  almost  grotesque  absurdity  of 
expecting  to  hear  from  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  earth's  atmosphere  any  word  transmitted 
through  a  mechanical  invention,  upon  the 
earth's  crust,  made  me  feel  somewhat  ashamed 
of  my  preparations,  yet  I  arranged  every  por- 
tion of  the  receiver  and  exercised  my  best  skill 
to  give  it  the  most  delicate  adjustment. 

Whenever  I  had  occasion  to  rest  I  either 
sent  an  assistant  to  the  post,  or  kept  on  my 
pillow,  adjusted  to  my  ear,  a  telephone  attach- 
ment to  the  Morse  register,  so  that  its  signals 
might  instantly  receive  attention.  At  length 
as  time  wore  on  I  arranged  a  bell  signal  that 
might  summon  us  to  the  register. 

On  the  occasion  of  this  visit  by  the  Dodans 
I  was  in  the  loft  at  the  receiver  which  was 
in  a  room  to  one  side  of  that  we  called  "the 
equatorial,"  where  the  telescope  was  sus- 
pended. I  was  as  usual  waiting  for  a  message 
that  never  came,  and  my  failing  hopes,  made 
more  and  more  transitory  by  the  brightness  of 
the  southern  spring  and  all  the  instant  present 
industry  of  the  fields  below  me  on  the  low- 


74 


lands,  seemed  to  dissolve  into  a  mocking 
phantom  of  derisive  dreams. 

I  stood  tip  hackneyed  and  forlorn.  Had  I 
not  done  everything  I  could?  Had  I  not  kept 
my  promise?  I  heard  the  voices  below  me; 
one,  that  musical  tone,  that  made  the  color 
come  and  go  upon  my  cheeks,  and  as  I  turned 
hastily  to  descend  to  them  while  the  breathing 
earth  seemed  to  send  upward  its  powerful 
sensitizing  odors  that  turn  energy  into  lan- 
guorous desire,  and  touch  the  senses  with  in- 
dolence; at  that  moment  the  Morse  register 
spoke ! 

Could  my  ears  have  deceived  me?  No!  It 
was  running,  running,  running,  intelligible, 
strong,  definite;  it  seemed  to  me  of  almost 
piercing  loudness,  although  just  audible.  I 
bent  over,  seized  my  pad  and  wrote.  The 
Abyss  of  Death  was  bridged !  From  behind 
the  veil  of  that  inexorable  silence  which  lies 
beyond  the  grave  came  a  voice — and  what  a 
voice !  The  clicking  of  a  telegraphic  register 
in  signals,  that  the  whole  world  knew  and 
used.  I  was  quiet,  preternaturally  so,  I  think, 
as  I  took  down  the  message.  I  became  almost 
aged  in  the  intense  rigidity  of  my  absorption. 

I  was  told  the  Dodans  came  up  and  saw  me, 
heard  the  tell-tale  clicks  of  the  register,  and 
unnoticed  left  me.  Still  I  wrote  on,  unheeding 
the   time.      My   assistants,   pale   with   wonder, 


75 

stood  around  me.  The  measured  tappings 
were  the  ghostly  voices  of  another  world. 
This  message  began  at  10  a.m.,  Sept.  25, 
1893.  It  ended  at  10  p.m.  qn  the  same  day. 
It  came  quite  evenly,  though  slowly,  and  was 
unmistakably  intended  to  be  inerrantly  re- 
corded, as  indeed  it  was. 


76 


CHAPTER  III. 

"My  son,"  it  began,  "I  am  indeed  in  the  red 
orb  of  light  we  have  so  often  looked  up  to 
when  we  were  together  on  the  earth,  and  about 
which  our  wondering  minds  hazarded  so  many 
fruitless  guesses.  I  have  been  here  a  short 
time,  and  now  am  able  to  return  to  you,  by 
that  cipher  we  so  fortunately  printed  upon  the 
tablet  of  memory,  word  of  my  existence. 

"I  can  hardly  describe  to  you  my  occurrence 
on  this  planet.  I  found  myself  here  without 
any  recollection  of  whence  I  had  come,  without 
a  traceable  thought  of  anything  I  had  ever 
heard  before. 

"I  was  suddenly  sitting  in  a  high  room, 
brilliantly  lighted  by  a  soft,  tranquillizing  ra- 
diance, listening  to  a  chorus  of  most  delicately 
attuned  voices,  indescribably  sweet,  penetra- 
ting and  moving.  Around  me  upon  white 
ivory  chairs  arranged  in  an  amphitheatre  sat 
beings  like  myself,  all  looking  outward  upon  a 
sloping  lawn  where  were  gathered  beneath 
blossoming    fruit    trees    an    army,    it    seemed, 


77 


of  half  shining  creatures,  unlike  myself,  sing- 
ing these  wonderful  choruses. 

"I  have  since  learned  that  I  did  not  reach 
Mars  in  that  identical  moment  when  I  found 
myself  sitting  in  the  hall.  I  had  come  to  it. 
as  all  disembodied  spirits  from  the  earth 
come  to  it  at  one  receiving  point,  a 
high  hill  not  far  from  the  tropic  of  Mars. 
This  hill,  crowned  and  covered  with  glass 
buildings,  is  known  as  the  hill  of  the  Phos- 
phori.  Here,  for  nearly  one  of  our  months, 
the  incoming  souls,  which  arc  little  more  than 
a  sort  of  ethereal  fluid,  presenting  a  form 
only  observable  by  refracted  light,  or  I  should 
say  polarized  light,  are  bathed  in  a  mar- 
vellously phosphorescent  beam  procured  by  ab- 
sorption from  the  sun.  These  souls  are  in- 
termingled in  a  chaotic  stream  that  I  may 
liken  to  the  streaming  currents  of  heated  air 
in  convection  from  a  source  of  heat  upon  our 
earth,  and  this  continuous  tide  is  caught  in  a 
great  spherical  chamber  or  a  series  of  cham- 
bers extending  over  five  miles  around  the 
bald  summit  of  this  eminence. 

"In  these  colossal  chambers  the  phosphor- 
escent light  from  enormous  radiators  beats 
incessantly  through  and  through  the  slowly. 
oscillating,  vibrating,  revolving  soul  matter. 
And  here  the  process  of  individualization  is 
achieved.      A   soul,    or   many   souls,    are    sep- 


78 


arated  from  the  great  tide,  by  flashing,  under 
the  bombardment  of  the  phosphorescent  blaze 
into  shining  forms.  They  assume  a  shape  out- 
lined by  light,  and  just  slightly  subject  to 
gravity  from  the  atomic  compression  necessary 
to  maintain  their  illumination,  they  fall  lightly 
out  from  the  domes  of  the  spheres,  touch  the 
floors  beneath,  and  are  led  away. 

"In  this  way  I  found  later  I  had  arrived  at 
Mars.  When  the  spirits,  thus  shaped  in  light 
and  otherwise  almost  immaterial  and  un- 
clothed, emerge  from  the  Hill  of  the  Phos- 
phori,  they  are  taken  along  wide,  white  roads 
to  some  of  the  many  chorus  halls  which  fill 
the  City  of  Light,  where  I  am  now,  and 
from  which  I  am  sending  this  magnetic  mes- 
sage. They  remain  for  hours,  even  days  and 
weeks  in  these  halls  listening  in  a  sort  of  stu- 
por or  trance  to  beautiful  music ;  for  music  is 
the  one  great  recreation  of  the  Martians,  and 
is  spontaneous,  appearing  as  a  vocal  gift  in 
beings  who  have  never  enjoyed  its  exercise  on 
earth. 

"Gradually  under  the  influence  of  this  mu- 
sical immersion,  as  under  the  bombardment  of 
the  phosphorescent  rays,  a  mentality  seems 
developed ;  voice  and  language  come,  and  the 
soul  moves  out  of  the  concourse  of  listening 
souls,  moved  by  a  desire  to  do  something, 
into  the  streets  of  the  city.     This  is  called,  as 


79 


we  might  say,  the  Act  Impulse.  From  that 
time  on  the  soul  rushes,  as  it  were,  to  its 
natural  occupation.  Its  mentality,  aroused  by 
music,  becomes  full  of  some  sort  of  aptitude, 
and  it  enters  the  avenues  of  its  congruous  ac- 
tivity as  easily,  as  quickly,  as  justly  as  the 
growing  flower  turns  toward  the  Sun  where- 
ever  it  may  be. 

"Let  me  present  to  you  the  curious  scene 
my  eyes  encountered  as  I  sat  in  the  great 
Chorus  Hall.  I  say  my  eyes.  It  is  hard 
perhaps  for  you  to  realize  what  an  organ 
can  be  in  a  creature,  so  apparently,  as  we 
are,  little  more  than  gaseous  condensations. 
The  physiology  and  morphology  of  a  spirit 
is  not  an  easy  thing  to  grasp  or  define.  I 
am  yet  ignorant  upon  many  points.  But 
dimly,  at  least,  I  may  make  your  natural  senses 
cognizant  of  it. 

"You  have  seen  faces  and  forms  in  clouds. 
How  often  you  and  I  from  Mount  Cook  on  the 
earth  have  watched  their  changing  and  con- 
fluent lineaments  in  the  clouds  above  the  New 
Zealand  Alps.  It  is  the  same  way  with 
Martian  spirits.  They  are  tenuous  fluids,  but 
the  individual  pervades  them  and  a  material 
response  is  evoked,  and  the  light  from  their 
surfaces  is  so  halated,  intensified,  or  reduced 
as  to  form  a  figure  with  a  head  and  arms  and 
legs. 


80 

"In  some  way  I  imagine  the  organs  are  op- 
tical effects,  ruled  by  mind,  which  is  located  in 
this   luminous   matter.     Later   I   will   describe 
the   process    of   solidification,   the   resumption 
of  matter,  for  these  spirit  forms  slowly  con- 
crete   into    beings    like    terrestrial    men    and 
women.    There  is,  therefore,  a  dual  population 
here,    the    extreme    newly   transplanted    souls, 
and  the  flesh  and  blood  people,  and  between 
them  the  transitions  from  spirit  to  corpuscular 
bodies.     But  all   this  takes  place  in  the   City 
of   Light.     Elsewhere   over  the   whole   planet 
the  spirits  are  seldom  seen,  but  only  the  vigor- 
ous and  beautiful  race  of  material  beings  into 
which,    they — the    spirits — have    consolidated. 
"To    return   to    my   first    experience    in    the 
Chorus  Hall  in  the  City  of  Light.    I  seemed  to 
be  in  a  great  alabaster  cage  enormously  large 
and    very   beautiful.      Its    shining    walls    rose 
from  the  ground  and  at  a  great  height  arched 
together.     The  front  was  a  network  of  sculp- 
ture, it  held  the  rising  rows  of  what  seemed 
like    ivory    chairs    on    which    the    motionless 
white    and    radiant    assemblage    were    seated. 
The  whole  place  glowed,  and  this  phosphor- 
escent prevails  throughout  the  City  of  Light, 
just  as  it  does  in  the  Hill  of  the  Phosphori, 
when  we  first  landed  in  this  strange  existence. 
"The  music  came  from  a  field  in  front  of  the 
Chorus  Hall,  which  held  a  wonderful  array  of 


81 


beings  who,  while  not  radiant  as  we  were, 
had  a  lustrous  look  over  their  smooth  and 
lovely  bodies,  which  were  tightly  clad  in  the 
palest  blue  tunics  and  leggings.  These  crea- 
tures were  consolidated  spirits.  They  are  con- 
stantly augmented  by  new  arrivals,  and,  as 
the  number  remains  almost  unchanged,  as 
new  arrivals  appear,  others  leave  and  then 
move  off  from  the  City  of  Light  into  the  vast 
regions  of  Mars  outside  and  beyond  the  city. 

"A  word  of  explanation  would  make  this 
all  clear.  The  Hill  of  the  Phosphori  begins 
the  transmutation  of  the  psychic  fluid  which 
makes  up  the  souls  as  they  flow  into  Mars 
from  space.  At  the  Hill  the  very  moderate 
condensation  begins,  just  enough  to  bring 
them  to  the  ground  by  gravity.  The  psychic 
fluid  is  susceptible  to  the  light,  absorbs  and 
emits  it,  and  so  the  spirit  forms  are  shining 
like  great  ignes  fatui  on  our  old  earth.  The 
spirits  thus  individualize,  pass  in  companies 
to  the  City  of  Light,  and  come  to  the  huge 
chorus  halls  which  surround  the  city  on  its 
outskirts,  in  the  country  margin. 

"They  reach  these  chorus  halls  by  a  sort  of 
suasion  produced  apparently  by  their  sym- 
pathy with  music.  Music  and  Light  are  the 
energies,  which  at  first  and  measurably 
throughout  all  the  latter  days  of  Martian  life, 
direct  work  and  thought  and  being.     The  mu- 


82 


sic  is  quite  audible  for  long  distances,  es- 
pecially in  the  direction  of  the  Hill  of  the 
Phosphori  where  the  spirits  land.  Drawn  by 
it  they  move  unconsciously  toward  the  singing 
centers.  Now  there  are  perhaps  a  hundred  of 
these  chorus  halls  about  the  City  of  Light 
grouped  in  the  direction  of  the  Hill  of  the 
Phosphori,  and  the  music  is  quite  different 
in  them.  There  are  four  principal  sorts,  the 
grave,  the  gay,  the  romantic  and  the  harmonic. 
By  their  interior  sympathy  the  kinds  of 
spirits  move  to  the  choruses  which  afford  the 
music  they  respond  to  and  it  is  wonderful 
how  infallibly  this  attraction  acts. 

"The  bands  separate  and  strings  and  lines 
of  the  phosphorized  spirits  train  away  with- 
out direction  to  the  choruses  that  attract 
them,  although  only  a  sort  of  subdued  and 
confused  murmur  reaches  them  from  the  halls. 

"Throughout  the  first  stages  of  life  here, 
the  spirits  are  somnambulous.  They  move  and 
act  unconsciously  and  in  obedience  to  their  im- 
bedded instincts  and  tastes.  Only,  as  under  the 
influence  of  music  and  light  and  afterwards 
occupation,  they  are  transmuted  by  consoli- 
dation into  the  fair  material  race,  which  out- 
side of  the  City  of  Light  controls  the  planet, 
does  consciousness  and  curiosity  and  lan- 
guage arise.  I  sat  a  long,  long  time  in  the 
chorus  hall,  to  which  I  was  drawn,  which  pro- 


duced  grave  music.  I  knew  nothing,  felt 
nothing,  was  but  dimly  cognizant  of  what  was 
about  me,  but  I  thrilled  with  the  music. 

"I  felt  the  process  of  condensation  going  on, 
and  it  was  a  process  exquisitely  blissful.  Now 
and  then,  a  spirit  form  would  arise  and  step 
down  the  rising  forms  and  go  out,  another 
and  another,  while  as  silently  spirits  from  the 
Hill  of  the  Phosphori  would  enter  and  take 
their  seat  and  bathe  in  the  almost  unbroken 
surges  of  music  that  come  from  the  field  out- 
side, from  the  multitude  beneath  the  almond 
blossom  laden  trees.  Movement  is  without  vo- 
lition in  the  spirit  stage;  attraction  that  fol- 
lows a  hidden  impulse,  that  seems  indescribable 
at  first,  directs  them.  It  is  only  as  the  process 
of  consolidation  in  the  City  of  Light  indi- 
vidualizes, that  the  spirits  become,  as  you 
would  say,  human.  But  it  is  a  humanity  of 
great  beauty.  Material  particles  invade  or 
transfuse  them,  replacing  the  diaphanous 
phosphorescent  spirit  fluid,  and  they  grade 
into  supple  white  and  rosy  figures,  strong, 
strenuous  and  splendid. 

"After  remaining  a  long  time,  perhaps,  in 
the  chorus  hall,  I  felt  the  restlessness  that 
causes  one  after  the  other  of  the  spirits  to  go 
out.  I  followed  the  solitary  line  out  into  the 
city,  the  solemn,  swaying  music  still  heard  as 
I  stepped  out  upon  the  broad  steps  which  face 


84 


the  city.  I  was  now  more  observant,  some- 
thing like  sight  and  feeling  and  memory  were 
slowly  generated  within  me,  and  I  noticed 
that  whereas  the  arriving  spirits  moved  like 
apathetic  ghosts,  those  with  whom  I  now  was, 
turned  with  interest  this  way  and  that,  seemed 
apprehending  and  alive. 

"The  spirits  from  the  Hill  of  the  Phos- 
phori  came  on  the  broad  avenues  leading  to  the 
chorus  halls  like  waifs  of  cloud  driven  by  a 
zephyr,  with  no  visible  distention  of  parts, 
no  leg,  or  arm,  or  head  or  body  motion.  Now 
they  moved  with  some  anatomical  sugges- 
tions. 

"I  stood  amid  a  colonnade  of  arches,  the 
white  shining  columns  rose  around  me  to  the 
high,  shining  roof,  before  me  a  long  descent 
of  steps,  and  beyond  me  and  around  on  a 
softly  swelling  eminence  was  spread  the  City 
of  Light.    It  was  a  marvellous  picture. 

"The  City  of  Light  is  simple  and  monot- 
onous in  architecture,  but  its  composition  and 
its  radiance  quite  surpass  any  earthly  concep- 
tion. The  buildings  are  all  domed  and  stand  in 
squares  which  are  filled  with  fruit  trees,  low 
bush-like  spreading  plants,  bearing  white  pen- 
dant lily-like  flowers  or  pink  button-shaped 
florets  like  almonds.  Each  building  is  square, 
with  a  portico  of  columns,  placed  on  rising 
steps,  a  pair  of  columns  to  each  step.    Vines 


85 


wind  around  the  columns,  cross  from  one 
line  of  columns  to  another  and  form  above  a 
tracery  of  green  fronds  bearing,  as  it  was  then, 
red  flowers,  a  sort  of  trumpet  honeysuckle. 

"The  walls  of  the  buildings  are  pierced  on 
all  sides  with  broad  windows  or  embrasures, 
filled,  it  seemed,  with  an  opalescent  glass. 
Avenues  opened  in  all  directions,  lined  on  both 
sides  with  these  wonderful  houses,  which 
are  made  of  a  peculiar  stone,  veined  inter- 
mittently with  yellow,  which  has  the  property 
of  absorbing  and   emitting  light. 

"It  is  indeed  a  phosphori  as,  if  I  recall  it 
aright,  the  sulphides  of  barium,  strontium,  and 
calcium  were  upon  our  earth.  Later  I  shall  see 
the  great  quarries  of  this  stone  in  the  Martian 
mountains.  Another  strange  feature  in  these 
Martian  houses  was  the  hollow  sphere  of 
glass  upheld  above  each  house.  It  is  a  sphere 
some  six  feet  in  diameter  made  up  of  lenses. 
It  encloses  a  space  in  the  center  of  which  is 
a  ball  of  the  phosphorescent  stone.  During  the 
day  the  rays  of  the  sun  are  concentrated  upon 
this  ball  of  stone,  and  at  night  the  stored-up 
sunlight  is  radiated  into  lambent  phosphores- 
cent light. 

"It  was  the  close  of  a  Martian  day  that  I 
felt  the  returning  impact  of  volition  and  left 
the  chorus  hall.  I  emerged,  as  I  said  before, 
upon  the  broad  platform  with  its  colonnade  of 


columns  and  arches  and  saw  the  city  as  the 
night  drew  on.  It  is  difficult  to  put  in  words, 
my  son,  the  wonderful  effect. 

"Each  house  built  of  this  strange  substance, 
which   throughout   the   day   had   been   storing 
up  the  energies  of  light,  now,   as  the  fading 
day  waned,  became  a  center  of  light  itself.    At 
first  a  glow  covered  the  sides  of  the  houses, 
the    colonnade    and    dome,    while    the    glass 
prisms  above  them  sent  out  rays   from  their 
imprisoned    balls    of    phosphori.      The    glow 
spread,  rising  from  the  outskirts  of  the  city 
in  the  lower  grounds  to  the   summits  of  the 
hills   where   the   sun's   last   rays   lingered.     It 
became  intensified.     The  green  beds  of  trees 
were  black  squares  and  the  houses,  pulsating 
fabrics  of  light  between  them.     A  slight  vari- 
ety of  architecture  in  places  was  accentuated 
by  diverse  and  varying  lines  or  surface  light. 
"The  whole  finally  blended  and  a  sea  of  radi- 
ance  was   before   me    in    which   the   beautiful 
houses  were  descried,  the  illuminated  groves, 
and    like    enormous    scintillations    the    glassy 
spheres — the  Martians  call  them  the  Plenitudes 
above   them.      Many   other   developing  beings 
were  around  me,  and  voiceless,  mute,  impas- 
sioned, with  an  admiration  which  we  had  as  yet 
no  adequate  organs  to  express  we  gazed  upon 
the  throbbing   metropolis,   ourselves  luminous 


87 


spectres  in  the  vast  eruption  of  glorious  light 
before,  above,  around  us. 

"As  the  night  settled  down  the  light  grew 
more  intense,  more  beautiful.  I  could  discern 
the  opalescent  glasses  in  the  houses  sending 
out  their  parti-colored  rays,  patching  the  trees 
with  quilts  of  changing  colors,  and  far  away 
there  came,  still  unsubdued  by  the  night,  the 
continuous  elation  of  music. 

"All  night,  all  day,  the  choruses  kept  on 
with  intermissions,  but  the  singers  change. 
This  musical  facility  is  the  mental  or  emotional 
characteristic  of  the  Martian.  There  is  more 
in  music  than  you  earthlings  know  or  dream 
of.  It  is  a  part  of  the  immortal  fiber  of  men, 
and  in  Mars  it  creates  matter,  for  the  slow  as- 
sumption of  material  parts,  as  I  have  said,  is 
propagated  and  accomplished  by  music,  and 
the  parts  thus  made  are  the  most  perfect  ex- 
pression of  matter  the  divine  form  of  man 
or  woman  can  know,  I  think.  They  are  tuned 
to  health,  to  beauty,  to  inspiration,  but  all  of 
this  you  shall  know. 

"So  I  went  down  the  steps  into  the  city. 
I  was  with  a  group  of  spirits  who  noticed  me, 
and  whom  I  noticed,  but  as  yet  the  listless, 
strange,  doomed  expression  was  on  our  faces, 
and  though  memory  was  beginning  to  light  its 
fires  within  us,  though  the  transmission  of 
viewless  particles  of  matter  into  our  fluent 


88 


bodies  of  spirit  had  begun,  though  mind  and 
desire  were  awakened,  not  a  word  passed  our 
shining  lips,  and  we  moved  on  in  silence. 

"The  City  of  Light  is  often  called  in  the 
Martian  language  also  the  City  of  Occupation, 
for  here  the  forming  spirits  work.  I  have  told 
you  that  as  consolidation,  through  Music  and 
Light,  goes  on,  the  aptitudes  or  tastes  are 
awakened,  and  this  first  birth  of  desire  in 
Mars  carries  the  spirits  off  from  their  ivory 
seats  in  the  Chorus  Halls  to  the  City,  where 
like  an  animal  ferreting  its  purpose  by  in- 
tuition, they  seem  impelled  whither  their  needs 
are  best  satisfied. 

"I  now  know  that  the  City  of  Light  is  gen- 
erally divided, — not  exactly,  but  as  association 
would  naturally  impel,  into  four  quarters,  the 
quarter  of  art,  the  quarter  of  science,  the 
quarter  of  invention,  the  quarter  of  thought. 
This  is  simply  that  the  artists,  the  scientific 
minds,  the  designers,  and  the  philosophers  are 
somewhat  by  themselves.  The  population  of 
the  City  of  Light  is  made  up  of  a  fair,  white 
race  of  Martians,  and  of  the  forming  spirits. 
As  the  forming  spirits  attain  materialization 
through  occupation,  they  may  remain  in  the 
City  or  go  out  into  the  other  cities,  and  into 
the  country  to  work  and  live. 

"Besides    the    quarters    I    have    mentioned, 


89 


there  is  the  business  section  and  the  offices  of 
the  government. 

"In  the  light  of  all  I  have  learned  since  I 
came,  I  may  at  once  explain  something  about 
the  actual  life  and  social  organization  of  this 
strange  world. 

"The  Martian  world  is  one  country.  There 
are  here  no  nationalities.  The  center  of  the 
country  is  in  the  City  of  Scandor,  quite  re- 
moved from  the  City  of  Light.  Business 
is  carried  on  as  with  you  on  the  earth, 
but  its  nature  and  its  physical  elements  vary, 
as  you  will  see.  There  is  a  circulating  me- 
dium, banks  and  business  enterprises,  but  it  is 
more  veiled,  more'  hidden,  less,  far  less,  in- 
sistent than  with  you.  A  great  socialistic  re- 
public is  represented  in  Mars,  and  the  limits 
of  individual  initiative  are  very  narrow.  Still 
they  exist. 

"One  prime  element  of  difference  is  in  the 
nourishment  and  the  area  of  population.  The 
Martian  lives  only  on  fruit,  and  he  lives  only 
a  few  degrees  on  either  side  of  the  Equator. 
All  the  businesses  that  in  your  earth  arise  from 
the  preparation  and  sale  of  meat  and  all  the 
various  confections,  disappear  there,  and  also 
all  the  mechanism  of  house  heating  and  light- 
ing. Also  there  are  no  railroads,  but  innu- 
merable   canals,    which    form   a   labyrinth   of 


90 


waterways,  and  are  fed  from  the  tides  of  the 
great  northern  and  southern  seas. 

"The  business  is  largely  agricultural,  but 
in  the  cities  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  still  con- 
tinues. There  is,  however,  on  Mars  a  much 
lessened  intellectual  activity  than  on  the  earth. 
It  is  a  sphere  of  simplified  needs  and  primal 
feelings  exalted  by  acutely  developed  love  of 
Music.  Mars  is  the  music  planet.  There  are 
not  on  Mars  newspapers,  journals,  magazines, 
books.  The  tireless  production  of  these  tilings 
on  the  earth  has  but  one  analogy  in  Mars, 
the  publication  of  music  scores,  the  recitation 
of  poetry  and  symposia,  and  the  great  illus- 
trated journal,  Dia.  But  these  things  I  will 
explain  later. 

"I  wandered  on  that  night  through  the  city 
with  other  spirits.  We  went  through  the  city 
streets  in  the  radiance  of  the  Plenitudes  above 
the  houses.  The  night  air  was  blowing 
through  the  trees,  and  the  city  was  filled  with 
people.  They  were  the  Martians.  We  were 
scarcely  noticed.  In  the  City  of  Light  the  new 
arrivals  are  not  questioned  until  they  begin  to 
"take  shape,"  as  they  say  here,  and  then  they 
are  closely  examined,  and  their  origin,  if  it  can 
be  traced,  is  written  down  and  kept  in  great 
registers. 

"The  groups  were  moving  in  streams  toward 
the  higher  ground,  and  as  my  companions  were 


91 


gradually  separated  from  me  and  were  lost 
like  wisps  of  moving  light  here  and  there, 
I  went  on  alone.  I  came  up  long,  wonderful 
avenues  between  walls  of  light,  regularly  punc- 
tuated by  the  dark  squares  of  trees,  and  the 
spherical  radiations  of  the  Plenitudes  above 
the  houses. 

"The  people  about  me  seemed  all  young,  or 
scarcely  more  than,  as  we  say,  in  middle  life. 
They  speak  less  than  the  earth  folk,  and  when 
they  speak  they  utter  very  simple  sentences, 
and  seem  very  sincere.  I  often  stood 
by  little  groups  gathered  at  the  corners 
of  cross  streets,  and  listened  to  their  musical 
intonations.  The  language  is  vocalic  and  mon- 
osyllabic. It  sometimes  suggests  a  Mongo- 
lian tongue,  but  without  the  guttural  clicks 
and  coughs.  The  Martians  are  all  gifted  in 
music.     It  fills  their  lives. 

"From  point  to  point  crowds  were  assembled 
about  platforms  where  singing  was  in  progress, 
and  every  now  and  then  a  man  or  woman  in 
the  street  would  sing  loudly  and  passionately 
with  such  power  and  beauty  that  the  impres- 
sionable Martians  would  follow  the  refrain 
of  the  song  and  the  whole  street  for  blocks 
and  blocks  would  resound  in  waves  of  de- 
lightful melody.  There  are  no  mechanical 
modes  of  propulsion  in  the  streets  of  the  City 
pf  Light,     The  Martians  all  walk, 


92 


"I  approached  the  top  of  the  broad  hill 
on  which  the  City  is  built,  and  came  sud- 
denly out  into  a  square  filled  again  in  its 
park-like  center  with  trees.  From  amid  these 
trees  rose  a  massive  building,  which  I  in- 
stantly recognized  as  an  observatory;  the 
many  round  domes,  as  on  earth,  were  unmis- 
takable. I  passed  up  the  walks  of  the  square 
to  the  building  and  entered  it. 

"It  was  illuminated  by  balls  of  phosphori 
in  glass  globes,  and  its  cool,  broad  halls  and 
stairways  were,  in  the  soft  light,  very  beau- 
tiful. But  their  wonderfulness  consisted  in 
the  insertion  upon  the  walls  of  illuminated 
plans  and  maps  of  the  heavens.  These  min- 
iature firmaments  were  all  afire,  so  that 
each  opening,  carefully  graded  in  size  to  rep- 
resent stars  of  the  first  or  second  or  third 
magnitude,  was  filled  with  a  beaming  point 
of  light,  and  I  walked  in  these  noble  corri- 
dors between  reduced  patterns  of  the  uni- 
verse of  stars.  I  can  hardly  tell  you  how  as- 
tonished and  entranced  I  was. 

"I  had  for  the  first  time  since  I  reached 
the  planet  the  impulse  of  speech,  and  I  raised 
my  hands  with  that  motion  of  snapping  the 
fingers,  which  you  recall  was  characteristic  of 
me  on  earth,  and  spoke.  I  cried,  'Here  is  my 
home.' 

"As  my  hands  dropped  to  my  sides  I  felt 


resistance.  I  looked  down  upon  myself  and 
could  behold  the  changing  surfaces  of  my 
body.  Under  this  completing  stroke  of  voli- 
tion the  work  begun  upon  the  Hill  of  the 
Phosphori  and  the  Chorus  Hall  in  reducing 
the  intangible  spirit  fluid  to  corporeal  expres- 
sion was  now  hastening  to  an  end.  I  do  not 
stop  here  to  consider  the  reflections  this  sug- 
gests as  to  the  nature  of  matter,  those  ab- 
struse speculations  we  indulged  in  so  often 
over  the  pages  of  Muir  and  Helmholz  and 
Tait  and  Crookes. 

"I  had  reached  the  ascending  stairway,  when 
my  hand — for  hand  it  now  seemed  to  be — 
was  taken  in  a  friendly  pressure,  and  I  turned 
and  saw  a  tall  figure  with  a  face  of  extreme 
nobility,  somewhat  scarred,  I  thought,  dressed 
in  the  usual  Martian  attire  of  a  flowing  tunic 
and  closely  fitting  body  clothing.  He  said  in 
English,  'You  are  from  the  earth  as  I  am.' 

"My  son,  how  can  I,  in  this  dull,  mechani- 
cal method  of  conversation  with  you,  igno- 
rant, indeed,  whether  the  magnetic  waves  load- 
ed with  my  message,  are  traversing  or  not 
the  millions  of  miles  of  space  to  your  ear, 
how  can  I  make  you  realize  the  wonderful  and 
blessed  feelings  of  amazement  and  happiness 
that  the  stranger's  words  brought  me.  Here 
I  was,  a  disembodied  soul  from  Earth,  which 
at  that  moment  I  only  dimly  recalled,  under- 


94 


going  the  strange  process  of  re-establishment 
in  flesh  and  blood,  and  slowly  appropriating 
those  natural  appetites  which  come  with  flesh 
and  blood,  a  waif  of  spiritual  being  in  the 
great  voids  of  creation,  impelled  by  some 
implanted  power  of  affinity  to  this  remote, 
strange,  phantasmal  and  unreal  place,  over- 
whelmed in  a  stupor  of  confusion,  like  some 
awakening  patient  from  the  vertigo  of  a 
terrifying  dream! 

"I  looked  upon  my  friend,  and  in  the  rapid- 
ly rising  flood  of  emotions  that  came  with 
the  acting  members  of  my  body,  flushed  and 
throbbing  with  excitement,  and  with  a  wild 
joy  besides,  I  flung  myself  upon  his  neck  and 
pressed  him  with  arms  that  seemed  once  more 
those  natural  physical  ties  that  have  held 
upon  my  breast  those  I  best  loved  on  earth. 

"The  stranger  led  me  slowly  up  the  stair- 
way and  past  great  celestial  spheres  which 
filled  the  higher  hallways,  conducting  me  to 
a  room  at  one  corner  of  the  great  structure. 
The  room  was  a  singular  and  unique  apart- 
ment. It  consisted  of  a  large  central  space, 
furnished  with  the  usual  ivory  chairs,  and 
a  broad,  massive  center  table,  also  of  ivory, 
curiously  inlaid  with  particles  of  the  omni- 
present phosphori,  which  gave  out  a  liquid 
light  and  imparted  indescribable  chasteness  and 
beauty  to  the  carved  ornaments  upon  them. 


95 


The  floor  was  dark,  a  leaden  color,  lustrous, 
however,  like  black  glass,  and  made  up  in 
mosaic.  Around  the  room  were  alcoves  lit 
by  lamps  of  the  phosphori,  and  in  each  alcove 
a  globe  of  a  blue  metal  upon  which  were 
painted  sketches  like  charts  or  maps.  A  chan- 
delier of  this  blue  metal  was  pendant  from  the 
ceiling,  and  in  its  cup-like  extremities,  ar- 
ranged in  vertical  tiers,  were  round  balls  of 
the  phosphori,  glowing  softly. 

"Wide  windows,  unprotected  by  glass  or 
sashes,  just  embrasures  framed  in  white  stone 
which  everywhere  prevails  in  Mars,  looked  out 
upon  the  marvellous  City,  which  thus  seemed 
a  lake  of  glowing  fires,  over  which,  rising  and 
refluent  waves  of  light  constantly  chased  each 
other  to  its  dark  borders,  where  the  surround- 
ing plain  country  met  the  City's  edges.  But 
throughout  the  distance  I  could  trace  lines  of 
light  marking  highways  or  roads  leading  in- 
terminably away  until  quite  extinguished  at 
the  optical  limits  of  my  vision. 

"The  walls  of  this  beautiful  room  rose  to 
an  arched  ceiling  which  was  inlaid  with  this 
wonderful  blue  metal,  seen  in  the  globe's,  de- 
signed in  scrolls  and  waving  ribbons,  and 
just  descending  upon  the  walls  themselves  in 
attenuated  twigs  and  strings.  The  walls  were 
bare  and  shining. 

"My  friend  led  me  to  one  of  the  great  win- 


96 


dows  and  placed  me  in  a  chair.  Drawing  an- 
other beside  me,  placing  his  hand  on  mine, 
and  leaning  outward  toward  the  burning  splen- 
dor below  us,  above  which  in  the  still,  clear 
heavens  shone  those  stellar  hosts  you  and  I 
have  so  often  watched  with  wonder,  he  said : 

"  'Ten  Martian  years  ago  I  came  to  this 
world  as  you  have  come.  As  a  spirit  I  entered 
the  chambers  on  the  Hill  of  the  Phosphori.  I 
sat  in  the  Chorus  Hall.  I  entered  the  City 
and  slowly  changed,  as  you  are  chang- 
ing, into  one  of  the  Martian  white  peo- 
ple. I  found  my  work,  as  you  will,  in  this  Pa- 
tenta,  for  by  that  name  in  Mars  is  called  this 
home  of  astronomy  and  physical  philosophy. 
Here,  amid  telescopes  and  apparatus  of  experi- 
ment and  investigation,  I  have  spent  the 
years,  mapping  with  many  others  the  skies, 
and  above  all  beating  the  earth  we  left,  as  have 
many,  many,  whom  you  will  meet,  with  mag- 
netic waves,  hoping  against  hope,  that  some, 
response  might  be  gained,  some  hint  of  that 
connection  through  space  which  the  physicists 
of  this  planet  expect,  ere  long,  may  make 
all  the  beings  of  the  universe  one  great  side- 
real society.' 

"He  stopped  and  leaned  away  from  me, 
perusing  my  face  with  interest.  Words  came 
to  my  lips,  memory  again  asserted  its  trium- 
phant declaration  that  I  was  the  same  being 


97 

as  had  lived  upon  the  earth,  and  with  it  the 
sudden  turbulence  of  hope  that  she,  your 
mother,  whom  we  so  often  expected  to  regain, 
might,  as  I  had,  have  reached  this  planet,  too, 
and  to  me,  renewed  in  youth,  might  come  the 
glory  and  the  joy  of  knowing  her  again. 

"I  turned  to  him  and  spoke:  'Kind  friend, 
I  am  yet  dazed  and  stricken  with  the  marvel- 
lousness  of  my  being  here.  It  seems  but  a 
short  time,  a  lapse  of  even  a  day,  that  I  bade 
good-bye  to  my  son  on  the  death-bed  in  my 
home  on  earth.  I  am  too  tormented  with  won- 
der to  speak  to  you  much.  I  can  tell  all  I  know 
of  myself  in  a  little  while.  But  now  as  I  grow 
stronger,  tell  me  of  this  new  world,  and  oh ! 
give  me,  sir,  food.  I  feel  the  quickening  fevers 
of  appetite  and  desire.' 

"The  man  arose  and  left  the  room.  In  a  few 
moments  he  returned  followed  by  a  boy  and  a 
young  woman  bearing  a  basket.  They  spread  a 
yellow  cloth  upon  a  small  ivory  table  and  set 
down  two  plates  of  the  bright  blue  metal ;  upon 
one  they  placed  a  pile  of  small  round  cakes  and 
on  the  other  a  number  of  red  and  yellow 
gourd  shaped  fruits.  At  a  signal  from  my 
companion  I  arose  and  sat  at  the  table. 

"He  remained  at  the  window  and  continued : 
'While  you  break  your  long  fast,  let  me  tell 
you  what  I  know  about  this  new  world  which 
will  now  be  your  home  for  a  long  time.    You 


98 


will  learn  all,  but  I  am  not  watching  to-night. 
In  seeing  you  and  hearing  the  familiar  English 
speech  I  am  moved  myself  by  currents  of  retro- 
spection ;  my  earth  home  comes  back  to  me. 
I  will  satisfy  your  curiosity,  and,  you  in  turn, 
must  tell  me  what  has  happened  in  the  old 
home.' 

"He  paused ;  from  the  streets  of  the  city 
rose  a  sacred  song.  It  came  like  a  slowly  in- 
creasing torrent  of  sound,  soft  and  low,  ris- 
ing with  impetuous  fervor  until  it  seemed  to 
engulf  us  in  its  melodic  tide.  Individual 
tones  were  heard  in  it,  but  its  solidity  and  mass 
were  most  impressive.  I  shook  and  trembled 
beneath  the  impact  of  its  vibrations ;  in  its 
surging  glory  of  sound  I  became  fully  rein- 
carnated. I  awoke  naked  and  ashamed.  The 
man  saw  my  confusion.  He  hurried  to  a 
niche  in  the  wall  and  handed  me  the  tunic  of 
the  Martians  with  its  girdle  of  blue  cord  and 
its  cap  and  shoes  of  the  blue  metal  exquisitely 
wrought  and  light.  I  put  them  upon  me  and 
lifting  the  cakes  and  the  mellow-soaked  pears 
to  my  lips,  listened. 

"  'The  Martians,'  he  continued,  'are  both  a 
natural  and  supernatural  race.  The  natural 
race  are  largely  prehistoric,  though  many  yet 
exist ;  the  supernatural  race  are  made  up  of  be- 
ings from  other  worlds  and  a  great  majority 
come  up  from  the  earth.     How  reincarnation 


99 


first  began  on  Mars  is  unknown,  though  the 
natural  people,  the  Dendas,  have  traditions 
about  it,  vague  and  contradictory.  It  must 
have  been  slow.  The  supernatural  people 
thus  brought  to  Mars  have  created  its  civil- 
ization, discovered  the  phosphori,  and  estab- 
lished Music,  which  is  so  much  of  their  life, 
and  accelerated  in  the  way  you  have  learned 
the  process  of  materialization. 

"  'They  built  this  City  of  Light  from  phos- 
phorescent stone  quarried  from  the  Mountains 
of  Tiniti.  Formerly  the  spirits  came  helter 
skelter  to  Mars  all  over  its  surface  and  went 
wandering  about,  helped  to  reincarnation  by  the 
various  villagers  or  citizens.  The  great  new 
improvement  in  the  last  half  century  has  been 
the  creation  of  the  receiving  station  at  the  Hill 
of  the  Phosphori,  the  building  of  the  Chorus 
Halls,  and  the  establishment  of  the  City  of 
Light.  Light  draws  the  spirits,  and  though 
spirits  reach  other  points  of  Mars,  the  cen- 
tralization of  Light  here,  draws  most  of  them 
to  this  side.  The  Martians  are  not  immortal. 
They  vanish  in  time. 

"  'As  reincarnated  all  spirit  becomes  young 
but  nourishment  has  undergone  a  change. 
The  physiological  process  is  singular.  I  need 
not  dwell  upon  it.  Evaporation  replaces  de- 
fecation. Love  enters  the  Martian  world,  but 
it  has  lost  much  of  the  earthly  passion.    The 


100 


physiological  effects  are  also  different.  There 
are  no  children  here. 

"  'We  live  in  the  tropical  regions  mostly  of 
Mars,  and  the  polar  and  north  temperate  zones 
are  empty.  The  natural  Martian  races  are 
found  more  plentifully  there.  They  are  strong 
and  small  and  work  under  the  supervision  of 
the  supernaturals.  They  are  like  the  earthlings 
and  eat  meat.  Our  food  is  bread  and  fruit. 
Our  language  does  not  lend  itself  to  composi- 
tion ;  it  only  sings.  Literature",  as  we  knew  it 
on  earth,  does  not  exist  here.  The  natural 
Martians  have  tales  and  stories  and  plays  and 
seme  books.  These  things  no  longer  interest 
the  supernaturals.  Our  life  is  quite  simple, 
almost  expressionless,  except  for  the  power  of 
our  music.  The  souls  from  different  parts  of 
the  earth  recognize  each  other  and  converse 
in  human  language,  but,  unless  practiced,  it  is 
forgotten  and  our  euphonies  take  its  place.  I 
have  used  my  earth  language  with  a  friend 
and  still  speak  English  well. 

"  'We  have  art  here,  but  it  is  almost  wholly 
sculpture  and  architecture  and  design.  Color, 
except  in  glass,  does  not  greatly  please  the 
Martians  and  there  are  few  painters.  They 
survive  from  other  worlds,  but  cannot  secure 
pigments,  and  draw  only  in  black  and  white 
for  the  most  part.  They  are  cartoonists,  as  we 
would  say,  on  the  earth.     But  we  grow  fruits 


101 


and  flowers,  the  former  in  varieties  and  rich- 
ness unknown  upon  the  earth  and  the  latter 
in  delicate  tints  with  blues  and  yellows,  the  only 
primary  strong  tints  the  Martians  admire. 

"  'Mechanical  invention  is  discouraged,  ex- 
cept as  it  assists  astronomy.  Astronomy  is  the 
great  profession.  Cars,  railroads  and  convey- 
ances, as  you  say  on  earth,  do  not  exist.  We 
walk  or  sail  and  float  upon  our  canals.  Our 
industry  is  agriculture  and  building.  Archi- 
tecture is  studied  and  advanced  beyond  all 
you  have  ever  known  on  the  earth.  Mars  is 
filled  with  beautiful  cities.  Its  whole  govern- 
ment consists  in  a  council  at  the  City  of  Scan- 
dor,  from  which  representatives  issue  to  its  va- 
rious departments.  One  is  here  in  the  City  of 
Light.  His  motives  are  always  just.  There 
are  no  parties,  for  there  are  no  policies.  Life 
is  so  simple.  Beauty  and  knowledge  only  rule 
us.  Character,  as  you,  as  I,  knew  it  on  the 
earth,  does  not  exist.  There  are  no  tempta- 
tions, and  we  live  as  children  of  Light,  in  a 
sort  of  childhood  of  feeling,  with  great  gifts 
of  mind.  But  even  living  is  noble.  There  is 
indeed  rivalry.  Yes,  envy  is  with  us.  We 
worship  God  in  great  temples  in  services  of 
song.     Sermons  are  never  heard. 

"  'In  this  city  the  great  designers  live,  also  the 
men  who  work  at  the  deep  problems  of  life  and 
thought  and  matter;    and  the  sculptors.     It  is 


102 


the  next  largest  city  to  Scandor.  Scandor  is 
far  away.  I  never  saw  it.  Glass  work  is  done 
here  and  throughout  Mars.  Making  the  blue 
metal  which  you  see,  quarrying  stone  and  ore 
and  coal  for  the  smelters  and  glass  factories, 
the  fabrication  of  dress  material  and  fabrics 
for  houses,  making  our  boats  and  canal  ships, 
cutting  down  the  forests  in  the  Martian  high- 
lands, cultivating  fruits  and  flowers  and  the 
great  wheat  fields  are  the  chief  industries,  and 
there  are  lesser  lines  of  work,  as  the  potteries 
and  the  instrument  makers. 

"  'There  are  no  industries  in  the  City  of 
Light.  It  is  employed  as  I  told  you.  Its  popula- 
tion is  constantly  changing,  for  spirits  like  you 
are  reincarnated  here,  and  these  new  multitudes 
come  and  go.  To-morrow,  the  ships  on  the 
canals  will  carry  many  away.  The  spirits,  as 
you  did,  when  they  enter  the  city,  wander  as 
they  will ;  they  enter  the  houses,  the  work- 
shops, the  laboratories,  everything  in  obedi- 
ence to  their  instinctive  choice.  The  people 
of  the  City  of  Light  are  therefore  largely  en- 
gaged in  caring  for  them  as  they  fall  into 
bodily  forms,  clothing,  feeding,  housing  them. 

"  'Each  householder  and  all  citizens  report 
to  the  Registeries  what  spirits  have  come  to 
them,  and  whence  they  came,  and  the  great 
diversion  and  entertainment  of  our  people 
is   to   listen   to   the   stories   of   other   worlds, 


103 


which  these  new  arrivals  bring.  Memory  does 
not  survive  long  and  they  soon  forget  their 
past  history.  It  is  best  so,  except  in  fugitive 
and  dreamlike  fragments,  unless  they  are 
great. 

"  'According  to  their  desire  or  aptitudes,  the 
spirits  are  sent  away  when  Martianized  to 
the  different  parts  of  Mars,  and  many  stay 
here  with  us  in  the  workshops  and  labora- 
tories. 

"  'Besides  Music,  the  people  of  Mars  delight 
in  recitation,  and  in  the  City  of  Scandor  I  hear 
there  are  great  theatres  or  public  places  where 
recitations  and  concerts  and  even  noble 
operas  are  held.  Many  of  these  are  brought 
to  us  by  great  spirits  from  other  worlds,  their 
own  works  in  poetry  or  prose  or  music.  In 
Scandor  there  are  great  orchestras  with  all 
the  instruments  we  had  upon  the  earth,  and 
the  paper,  Dia,  is  published  there,  which  is 
read  everywhere  in  Mars.  There  are  few 
books,  no  schools  in  the  common  sense.  The 
thinkers  have  assemblies  and  there  are  an- 
nouncements and  explanations  of  discoveries. 

"  'Our  life  in  many  ways  is  like  the  life  on 
earth,  but  less  active,  more  contemplative,  and 
sin  and  money-making  are  almost  absent.  The 
wicked  of  all  sorts  have  one  fate ;  they  are 
fired  off  the  planet.  We  can  overcome  the  at- 
traction  of  gravitation   by  our   Toto  powder. 


104 


These  executions  are  strange  to  earth  eyes. 
You  will  see  them.  The  Toto  powder  is  also 
a  motive  power. 

"  'We  have  a  medium  of  exchange,  silver,  and 
there  are  rich  and  poor  with  us,  but  no  pov- 
erty. There  can  be  no  armies  nor  navies.  The 
government  carries  on  extensive  works  of  im- 
provement and  keeps  the  canals  and  pays  its 
laborers.  The  government  supports  this  City 
of  Light  and  the  people  here  are  paid  for  the 
number  of  spirits  they  care  for  and  assist. 
Happiness  reigns  on  Mars,  but  it  is  a  pensive 
happiness.  We  never,  because  of  the  singular 
physiology  of  our  bodies,  can  know  the  boister- 
ous and  passionate  joys  of  earth,  neither  do 
we  know  many  of  the  ills  of  the  flesh.  We 
have  sickness  and  there  are  accidents.  We 
have  a  death,  but  it  is  like  evaporation.  We 
decline  again  after  a  long  life  to  the  spirit 
stage  and  vanish.  So  there  are  partings  here, 
and  the  old  sadness  of  the  end  as  on  earth ; 
but  the  gaiety  of  children,  the  ambition  of 
youth,  the  devotion  of  parents  is  unknown.' 

"His  voice  sank,  he  bent  his  head  upon  his 
hands,  and  a  sort  of  tremor  ran  through 
him,  and  when  again  he  looked  upon  me  his 
eyes  shone  with  moisture,  and  the  hot  tears 
ran  down  his  cheeks.  Memory  might  be  fleet- 
ing on  Mars,  but  the  loved  ones  of  the  earth 
were  yet  remembered,  and  the  abysses  of  the 


105 


eternal  void  of  space  could  never  be  crossed 
by  the  wave  of  speech  or  recognition.  This 
was  the  pathos  of  the  Martian  life. 

"I  was  shown  by  him,  as  the  slowly  arising 
sweetness  of  fatigue  showed  itself  within  me, 
to  a  bedchamber  of  charming  simplicity.  The 
graceful  bedstead  of  the  blue  metal  was  cov- 
ered with  snowy  covers,  curtains  hung  at  the 
windows  also  white.  The  furniture  of  the 
room  was  of  a  sort  of  pale,  red  wood  obtained 
in  the  great  Martian  forests  where  the  trees 
known  as  the  Ribi  grow,  whose  leaves  and 
flowers  have  a  pink  tint,  which  in  seasons  of 
fruitage  is  more  intense,  and  present  enormous 
areas  of  extraordinary  beauty. 

'This  room  was  at  the  top  of  one  of  the 
many  branching  wings  of  this  composite  as- 
tronomical laboratory.  To  reach  my  room 
we  walked  through  hallways  all  illuminated 
with  the  phosphorescent  glowing  balls  while 
the  radiant  patterns  in  the  walls  shone  also 
with  a  pale  beauty.  These  balls  possess  a 
wonderful  lighting  power  and  besides  their 
self-illumination  can  be  stimulated  into  the 
most  intense  brilliancy  by  electric  currents 
with  which  the  Martians  are  profoundly  ac- 
quainted. The  electrical  displays  on  Mars  sur- 
pass description  and  the  waves  of  magnetism 
I  am  now  utilizing  to  send  to  you  these  mes- 
sages are  ten  miles  in  amplitude. 


106 


"I  fell  asleep,  quickly  lulled  into  an  almost 
death-like  slumber  by  the  cadence  of  innumer- 
able fountains.  Near  the  Patcnta  is  the  Gar- 
den of  Fountains,  which  I  shall  tell  you  about 
in  another  message.  It  was  the  plash  and  rivu- 
lous  current  of  these  water  courts  that 
brought  on  sleep. 

"I  awoke  when  the  Martian  dawn  was  com- 
ing on.  Slumber  had  given  me  the  last  re- 
assurance of  identity  of  body,  and  I  awoke" 
with  a  delightful  sense  of  health  and  youth. 
I  stood  at  the  wide  window  near  my  bed  and 
gazed  out  upon  the  yet  luminous  City  of  Oc- 
cupation. The  picture  was  of  surprising 
strangeness  and  beauty.  Far  off,  until  melt- 
ing into  the  encroaching  edges  of  an  outer 
blackness,  the  City  extended  its  folds  and  sur- 
faces of  light.  The  streets  were  empty,  the 
music  of  the  Chorus  Halls  stilled.  Here  and 
there,  a  spirit  was  moving  slowly  through  the 
streets,  a  half-made  Martian ;  a  breeze  soft 
and  salubrious  stirred  the  thickly  leaved  trees 
and  the  firmament  shone  with  the  larger  stars, 
beginning  to  pale  before  the  rising  sun.  As 
the  sun  rose  higher,  the  effulgence  of  the  City 
died  away,  the  light  of  the  same  great  orb 
which  brings  the  dawn  to  you,  covered  with 
its  rays  the  white  and  glorious  City,  the  mu- 
sic seemed  again  revived,  and  from  the  door- 
ways of  the  houses  I  could  see  forms  issuing, 


107 


while  far  off  the  Hill  of  the  Phosphori  raised 
its  glass  domes  in  the  air,  where  the  homo- 
geneous tide  of  spirit  was  undergoing  differ- 
entiation, as  we  might,  say,  into  separate  cog- 
nizable, discreet  beings.  An  unspeakable  de- 
light filled  me.  I  felt  the  power  of  mind  and 
with  it  the  radiant  energy  of  manhood." 

No  more  words  came.  The  message  ended. 
Not  a  motion  or  sound  succeeded  this  wonder- 
ful trans-abysmal  dispatch. 

Well,  here,  at  last,  was  the  long  expected, 
impossible,  amazing  reality.  When  I  had  de- 
ciphered the  last  word,  when  I  had  it  borne 
fully  in  upon  me,  the  significance  of  it  all,  I 
turned  to  the  one  natural  effort  to  answer  this 
Martian  communication.  I  sent  out  from  the 
battery  of  our  transmitter  the  longest  wave 
of  magnetic  oscillation  I  could  emit.  The  mes- 
sage was  simple :  "Have  received  all.  Await 
more.    Transmission  perfect." 


108 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Again  for  weeks  I  watched  the  station.  My 
assistants  relieved  me,  and  amongst  them  was 
now  included  Miss  Dodan.  It  was  only  a 
few  days  after  the  Dodans  found  me  at  the 
register,  absorbed  in  receiving  my  father's 
message,  that  Miss  Dodan  called.  She  ran  to- 
ward me  at  the  open  door  of  the  station,  her 
face  fixed  in  an  anxious  expression  of  half- 
alarmed  expectation. 

"Did  you  really,  Mr.  Dodd,  hear  anything? 
Is  it  true  that  something  came  from  your 
father.    Oh,  tell  me,  can  it  be  possible?" 

I  took  her  clasped  hands  in  my  own,  looked 
into  her  face  and  told  her  everything.  She 
was  the  first  visitor  to  the  station  since  the  day 
of  the  marvellous  experience.  My  assistants 
had  promised  secrecy,  which  I  reinforced 
effectively  by  doubling  their  salaries.  I  felt 
I  ought  not  to  have  revealed  this  thing  to  Miss 
Dodan,  and  when  in  the  first  impulse  of  con- 
fidence everything  so  unwittingly  passed  my 
lips,  I  took  her  arm  in  mine  and  walked  out 
upon  the  broad  plateau   toward  the  opposite 


109 


end  where  our  smaller  experimenting  station 
had  been  built. 

"Miss  Dodan,"  I  said,  "I  am  going  to  ask  a 
great  favor  of  you." 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  half  musingly,  for  the 
tremendous  fact  I  had  related  had  half  robbed 
her  of  her  consciousness  of  passing  things. 

"I  want  you  solemnly  for  the  present  to 
promise  me  not  to  reveal  the  strange  thing 
I  have  told  you.  It  would  hardly  be  believed. 
No,  I  am  sure  it  would  be  laughed  at,  and 
I  would  become  in  the  eyes  of  everyone  a  fool- 
ish, impossible  dreamer.  This  would  give 
me  a  deep  sorrow.  My  father's  name  would  be 
dragged  into  the  mire  of  this  common  ridi- 
cule.    You  revered  my  father." 

I  bent  more  closely  over  her,  I  felt  her 
breath  upon  my  cheeks,  her  eyes  seemed 
fixed  in  mine,  and  then  I  did  what  I  had  never 
done  before,  I  kissed  the  lips  of  a  woman  and 
it  was  also  the  lips  of  the  woman  I  loved. 
There  was  no  resistance,  no  withdrawal ;  a 
tremor — was  it  pleasure  ? — seemed  to  disturb 
her  for  a  moment  and  again  I  kissed  her.  This 
time  with  a  quiet  effort  toward  release  she 
separated  herself  from  me,  and  while  I  still 
held  her  hands,  our  walk  stopped  and  we  faced 
each  other,  just  where  looking  westward  the 
spires,  and  flocking  houses  of  Christ  Church 
came  fully  in  view. 


110 


"Miss  Dodan,"  I  began,  fearful  to  use  her 
first  name  through  a  reluctance  that  was  itself 
the  expression  of  the  deep  love  I  bore  her, 
"Miss  Dodan,  I  may  for  some  time  yet  be  en- 
gaged in  this  now  imperative  work.    I  cannot, 
you  know,  now  leave  it.     It  is  the  most  mar- 
vellous thing  the  world  has  ever  known.     It 
means  so  much  to  me,  indeed  to  us  all.    These 
messages  are  erratic — fitful.    I  have  now  waited 
for  weeks  for  a  renewal  of  these  strange  com- 
munications and  there  is  nothing.     But  in  the 
midst  of  this,  a  distracting  love  for  you  seems 
to   unnerve   and   torment  me.     I   beg  you   to 
wait  until  those  days  may  come  when  I  can 
show  you  all  the  devotion  I  yearn  now  to  give 
you,   but   must   not,   for   every   moment   that 
voice  may  reach  me  from  beyond  the  grave, 
and  I  would  be  recreant  to  the  most  sacred 
obligations,  and  deep  responsibilities  that  seem 
now  to   shape  themselves  before   me,   to  our 
common   humanity,    if   I    forfeited   an   instant 
of  inattention.     I  beg  you  to  remember  all  this 
and  wait,  wait,  until  the  depthless  power  of 
my  love  for  you  can  be  made  clear." 

I  would  have  sunk  upon  my  knees  in  the 
abasement  and  passion  of  my  desire  for  her, 
had  she  not  suddenly  drawn  me  to  her,  flung 
her  arms  about  my  neck  and  placed  her  head 
where — well,    I    am    no    connoisseur    in    love 


Ill 


scenes — but  that  day  Agnes  Dodan,  without  a 
syllable  of  sound  gave  her  heart  to  me. 

We  passed  back  in  silence,  and  when  she 
left  me  the  fluttering  handkerchief  that  had 
so  often  waved  back  its  salutation  on  the 
winding  distant  road  was  now  in  my  hands, 
and  its  signals  sent  by  me  came  to  her  from 
the  plateau.  It  was  the  simple  pledge  of  our 
mutual  love,  a  pledge  that  even  now  as  I 
prepare  these  last  pages  of  a  manuscript  that 
is  a  testament  to  the  world,  soothes  my  pain 
and  renews  the  happiness  of  that  day,  forever 
and  forever  lost. 

The  next  message  came  a  few  days  after 
my  interview  with  Miss  Dodan.  It  was  a 
rainy  day  in  November — the  spring  time  of 
that  Southern  land.  The  register  was  heard 
by  one  of  my  assistants,  Jack  Jobson,  a 
man  who  had  unremittingly  taken  my  place 
when  I  was  absent,  and  who  seemed  more 
than  anyone  else  dazed  and  wonder  stricken 
over  the  experience  we  had.  He  came  running 
to  me,  a  wild  terror  in  his  face,  exclaiming, 
"It's  going  again,  sir.  Hurry!  It's  running 
slow."  I  sprang  upstairs,  and  before  I  had 
reached  it  heard  the  telltale  clicks.  It  was  not 
altogether  a  sheltered  position,  and  as  I 
reached  the  table  I  felt  the  bleak  and  chilly  air 
penetrating  the  crevices  of  the  window,  a  raw 
ocean    breeze    that    in    a    few    instants    crept 


112 


through  my  bones.  But  I  was  again  uncon- 
scious of  everything ;  that  marvellous  ticking 
obliterated  all  thought  of  earth,  its  affairs, 
accidents,  dangers,  loves,  hopes,  despairs,  all 
forgotten,  swallowed  up  in  the  immeasurable 
revelation  I  was  about  to  receive. 

The  second  message  began  at  about  4 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  November  25,  1893, 
two  months  exactly  after  the  first.  Its  very 
opening  sentences  I  failed  to  get.  It  lasted 
late  into  the  morning  of  the  next  day.  The 
strain  of  taking  it  was  somehow  singularly 
intense  upon  me.  I  was  taken  from  the  table 
the  next  morning  unconscious.  I  had  fainted 
at  the  close.  It  began,  as  I  received  it,  a 
few  opening  sentences  having  been  lost : 

" was  sent  to  you  I 

was  in  the  City  of  Light,  and  now  I  am  in 
the  City  of  Scandor. 

"The  morning  of  that  wonderful  night  in 
which  I  became  a  flesh  and  blood  Martian, 
strong  and  young  and  beautiful,  dawned  fair. 
My  friend  came  for  me,  and  we  went  to- 
gether to  the  great  'Commons'  of  the  Patenta, 
a  superb  hall  where  all  the  professors,  inves- 
tigators, and  students  in  the  great  Academy 
sit  at  many  tables.  This  huge  dining  room 
is  at  the  center  of  the  group  of  buildings  which 
make  up  the  Patenta.     Corridors  lead  into  it 


113 


from  the  four  sections  of  the  Patenta,  and  as 
wc  entered,  from  the  different  sides  there  were 
many  men  and  some  women  taking  the  ivory- 
chairs  at  the  sides  of  the  long  tables  of  mar- 
ble, on  which  rose  in  beautiful  confusion  of 
color  crowded  vases  of  fruits. 

"Surrounding  the  room  are  niches  instead  of 
windows,  and  in  each  niche  one  noble  symbolic 
figure  in  white  or  colored  marble. 

"Light  fell  in  a  torrent  of  glory  through  the 
faintly  opalescent  glass  compartments  of  the 
ceiling,  from  which,  at  the  intersection  of  the 
broad  and  long  rafters  of  blue  metal,  hung 
chandeliers  formed  in  branching  arms  with 
cup-like  extremities,  and  holding  spheres  of 
the  omnipresent  phosphori. 

"I  stood  a  moment  with  my  companion  at 
the  entrance  of  the  great  dining  room,  and 
watched  the  groups  and  individual  arrivals, 
as  they  assorted  themselves  into  companies  or 
engaged  in  some  short  interchange  of  greet- 
ings. It  was  a  very  beautiful  scene.  The 
faces  of  all  were  wonderfully  clear  and  strong, 
and  in  the  commingling  of  forms,  the  bold,  in- 
tellectual features  of  some,  the  more  rare, 
delicate  outlines  of  other  faces,  the  flowing  of 
the  graceful  tunics  and  robes,  the  pleasant, 
musical  confusion  of  voices,  with  the  quick, 
glancing  movements  of  attendants,  the  heaped 
up    chalices    and    baskets,    vases    and    broad 


114 


spreading  plates  of  fruit,  the  many  carelessly 
arranged  and  profuse  bunches  of  radiant  flow- 
ers in  tall  receptacles  of  glass  or  alabaster,  in 
all  this,  with  the  strong,  simple  architectural 
features  of  the  Hall,  the  eye  and  mind  and 
senses  seemed  equally  stimulated  and  satis- 
fied. 

"Amongst,  the  glorious  throng  my  com- 
panion pointed  out  to  me  many  of  those  great 
men  and  women  whom  I  seemed  to  know  by 
their  writings  and  portraits  when  on  the  earth. 
At  one  table  sat  Mary  Somerville,  Lever- 
rier,  Adams,  La  Place,  Gauss  and  Helmholz ; 
at  another  Dalton,  Schonbeim,  Davy,  Tyn- 
dall,  Berthollet,  Berzelius,  Priestly,  Lavoisier, 
and  Liebig;  here  were  groups  of  physicists — 
Faraday,  Volta,  Galvani,  Ampere,  Fahren- 
heit, Henry,  Draper,  Biot,  Chladini,  Black, 
Melloni,  Senarmont,  Regnault,  Daniells,  Fres- 
nel,  Fizeau,  Mariotte,  Deville,  Troost,  Gay- 
Lussac,  Foucault,  Wheatstone,  and  many, 
many  more.  At  a  small  table  immediately  be- 
neath a  dome  of  glass,  through  whose  softly 
opaline  texture  an  aureole  of  light  seemed  to 
embrace  them,  sat  Franklin,  Galileo  and  New- 
ton. It  would  be  impossible  to  describe  to 
you  my  amazement  at  the  astonishing  picture. 

"It  almost  seemed  as  if  the  air  vibrated  with 
the  excitement  of  its  impact  and  use,  as  these 
giant    minds    conversed    together.      Endowed 


115 

again  with  youth,  scintillating,  "brilliant,  the 
flush  of  a  semi-immortality  impressed  upon 
their  faces,  which  again  bespoke  the  eminence 
of  their  intellects,  in  picturesque  and  effec- 
tive, almost  pictorial  groupings,  this  wondrous 
gathering  filled  me  with  new  rapture.  My 
comrade  led  me  to  other  branching  halls 
similarly  occupied.  Chemists  were  here  con- 
spicuous— Chevreuil,  Talbot,  Wedgewood,  Da- 
guerre,  Cooke,  Fresenius,  Schmidt,  Avogadro, 
Liebig,  Davy,  Berthollet,  and  many,  many 
more. 

"It  formed  an  equally  striking  scene.  I 
turned  to  my  companion  and  asked  him  how  it 
was  that  the  mathematicians,  chemists,  physi- 
cists, astronomers,  were  so  crowded  together. 
He  said,  'The  Patenta  covers,  with  all  its 
buildings,  a  space  about  one  mile  square,  and 
here  in  laboratories  and  in  the  great  observa- 
tories these  men  have  flocked  because  of  a 
sympathy  in  their  tastes  and  talents.  Al- 
though astronomy  is  the  great  profession,  and, 
as  I  will  show  you,  the  marvels  of  the  Uni- 
verse are  being  more  and  more  fully  known, 
yet  the  study  of  the  elements  and  the  laws 
of  matter  is  popular  and  also  followed  unre- 
mittingly. It  is  true  that  we  know  these 
people  are  from  your  earth ;  they  have  re- 
ported all  that  to  the  Registeries,  to  whom 
I    will    soon    conduct    you ;    they    yet    retain 


116 


strong  memories  of  the  earth,  though  it  is 
confined  more  largely  to  knowledge  than  to 
experience.  In  some,  the  Martian  life  and 
habit  has  almost  obliterated  their  earthly  no- 
tions and  designs.  It  is  singular  that  of  the 
scientific  workers  of  the  earth  the  astronomers, 
physicists,  and  chemists  alone  reach  Mars. 
The  biologists,  zoologists,  botanists,  geogra- 
phers, and  geologists  rarely  are  booked  at  the 
Registeries  as  coming  from  the  Earth.  Their 
lives  may  be  prolonged  elsewhere,  they  sel- 
dom  reach  us. 

"  'There  are  some  exceptions.  The  plants  of 
Mars  are  numerous,  its  rocks  and  animal  life 
curious,  and  they  are  well  understood.  A  few 
doctors  from  the  earth  are  here,  but  medicine 
and  surgery  are  not  so  much  needed,  yet  in 
the  study  of  life  our  philosophers  have  made 
great  strides.  Your  thinkers  and  poets,  artists, 
composers,  dramatists,  musicians,  come  here, 
but  of  all  the  wonderful  students  of  Nature 
the  earth  has  produced,  as  far  as  I  know  or 
have  heard,  Lamarck  and  Agassiz,  Owen,  and 
Cuvier  alone  have  been  reincarnated  on  our 
globe.  And  the  warriors  and  generals  of  the 
earth  are  unknown  here.' 

"We  had  reached  a  table  unnoticed,  unheard. 
There  was  a  constant  rush  of  words  about 
us.  The  melodic  charm  of  the  Martian  tongue, 
like    the    soft   vocalization    of    Italian    pleased 


117 


me.  If  the  Martians  are  without  books  or 
papers,  they  possess  all  the  resources  of  con- 
versation. Animation,  pleasure,  salutation, 
cheerfulness  and  joy  was  everywhere,  the  per- 
fume of  flowers  filled  the  air,  the  shafts  of  sun- 
light broken  into  the  most  enticing  iridescence 
filled  the  great  noble  rooms  with  lovely  colors, 
and  the  clear  white  tables,  beautifully  spread 
with  fruit,  seemed  to  chasten  appetite  into 
something  ethereal  and  rare. 

"As  we  stood  an  instant  at  our  places  the 
people  arose,  and  from  some  distant  and  con- 
cealed place,  so  situated  I  afterwards  learned, 
as  to  gain  access  to  all  the  dining  halls,  there 
came  a  swell  and  burst  of  jubilant  music.  It 
was  so  fresh  and  free  and  bewitching  in  its 
glee  and  ringing  cadences,  so  consonant  and 
accordant  with  the  glad  and  illustrious  feeling 
of  the  place  and  time,  that  my  heart  seemed 
to  leap  within  me ;  and  then  it  softened,  and 
changing  into  notes  of  melodic  gravity,  ended 
in  a  splendid  outcry  of  soaring,  piercing 
notes — the  salute  to  the  morning.  Long  after 
the  voices  had  finished,  the  rolling  notes  of 
an  organ  continued  the  loud  outburst. 

"As  we  sat  down,  the  conversation  was 
again  resumed  and  I  noted  then  the  singular 
clearness  and  suavity  of  this  Martian  language. 
I  must  hasten  my  narrative.  I  have  so  much 
to  tell  you.     We  ate  the  great  cereal  of  Mars — 


118 


the  Rint — a  delicious  food,  in  which,  as  it 
seemed  to  me,  the  substance  of  a  sort  of 
rice .  was  mingled  with  a  creamy  exudation 
in  all  of  which  was  enclosed  the  flavor  of  the 
orange  and  the  peach.  This,  with  a  fruit,  a 
kind  of  milk,  and  many  wines,  forms  the 
nourishment  of  the  Martians.  The  fruits  are 
most  various,  and  every  hidden  or  patent  fancy 
of  the  gourmet  seems  elicited  or  satisfied  in 
them.  I  cannot  now  describe  them  even  if  I 
recalled  them.  One  commended  itself  to  my 
taste  strongly,  a  sort  of  nodular  banana,  hold- 
ing a  fragrant  nucleus,  like  a  large  strawberry 
immersed  in  a  savory  juice,  and  coated  with  a 
rind  stripped  from  it  by  the  hand.  It  is  of 
most   stimulating  qualities.     It   is  called  Ana. 

"Few  implements  are  in  use ;  the  Rint  is 
taken  in  short  spoons  and  the  fruit  is  usually 
manipulated  with  the  fingers.  The  milk  and 
wine  are  drunk  from  the  most  ingeniously 
devised  and  ornamented  glasses,  napkins  of 
the  Tofa  weed  are  used,  a  pale  green  cloth, 
and  large  bowls  of  acidified  water  in  which 
floats  a  morsel  of  soap  are  served  at  the 
end  of  meals.  Great  variety  prevails,  and 
individual  fancy,  taste,  desire,  or  invention 
sway  as  with  you  on  earth. 

"The  breakfast  over,  the  companies  arose 
and  moved  out  in  clusters  and  trains  to  the 
avocations  of  the  day.    Many  of  these  workers 


119 


in  the  Patenta  have  houses  throughout  the 
city,  while  others  living  singly  congregate  in 
the  numerous  apartments,  and  enjoy  these 
commons.  The  extraordinary  assemblage  I 
saw  here  is  repeated  in  the  other  great  com- 
munal halls  where  the  artists,  philosophers 
and  inventors  congregate.  But  the  Halls  are 
of  quite  different  construction  in  each  quarter 
of  the  City. 

"Accompanying  or  associated  with  these 
Halls  are  the  Courts  of  Announcement  and 
Recreation.  Here  lectures,  conferences,  enter- 
tainments, are  given,  and  the  people  of  the 
City  flock  in  droves  not  infrequently  accom- 
panied by  numbers  of  the  new  Spirits  who 
here  are  often  enabled  to  gain  their  final 
solidification ;  'GelV  as  the  Martians  say. 

"My  companion  led  me  out  of  the  Hall. 
Men  and  women  were  moving  slowly  in  vari- 
ous directions  and  as  we  made  our  way  over 
the  campus  and  between  the  many  noble  build- 
ings I  saw  many  of  the  lambent  spirits  half 
emergent  into  fleshly  shapes  accompanied  by 
the  watchers,  who  are  in  great  numbers  in 
the  City,  carrying  over  their  arms  the  white 
and  blue  dresses  with  which  to  clothe  them 
as  the  spirits  fall  into  solid  forms. 

"Amongst  these  buildings  I  easily  noted  the 
marvellous  observatories  where  objectives 
twenty  feet  in  diameter  are  used  with  which 


120 


the  astronomers  actually  discern  the  life  of 
our  earth.  The  reports  they  make  from  week 
to  week  of  their  inspection  of  the  Solar  sys- 
tem, and  of  the  commotions,  changes,  births 
and  demolition  of  Stars,  are  the  sensations  of 
Mars.  These  Reports  are  read  aloud  in  the 
Halls  of  Announcement  and  Recreation.  But 
astounding  beyond  belief,  they  photograph 
the  surfaces  of  these  distant  bodies,  and  re- 
port in  moving  pictures  the  disturbances  of 
the  cosmic  universe.  No  wonder  that  the 
whole  Mind,  as  it  were,  of  Mars  is  concen- 
trated on  the  fabulous  results  of  their  cosmic 
studies. 

"We  descended  from  Patenta  Hill  in  an 
avenue  that  led  between  the  white  columned 
houses  with  their  spheres  of  Phosphori  and 
their  umbrageous  squares  around  them.  It 
was  a  season  of  flowers,  though  I  understood 
that  by  the  use  of  fertilizing  injections  the 
number  of  flowers  in  a  shrub  and  even  in  an 
herb  can  be  here  greatly  multiplied.  The  win- 
dows of  the  houses  were  open  and  their  sills 
crowded  with  blossoms.  The  use  of  the  red 
blossoming  vine  was  strangely  extravagant.  In 
many  cases  it  had  thrown  its  branches  over  an 
entire  house,  clambering  over  the  roof  and  en- 
circling the  phosphoric  cage,  so  that  the  white 
house  was  dissected  by  its  twigs  and  tendrils, 
while  the  red  honeysuckle  flowers  depended  in 


121 


clusters  from  the  walls,  the  roof  gutters,  and 
the  light  house  globes  above  them. 

"The  Court  of  the  Registeries  was  a  long 
low  structure  made  of  the  prevalent  white 
stone  with  a  roof  of  what  seemed  to  be  red 
copper.  It  was  built  upon  one  of  the  canals 
which  here  enter  the  city  and  formed  one  side 
of  a  long  pier  or  dock  to  which  and  from 
which  interesting  little  boats  were  constantly 
approaching  and  as  constantly  departing. 

"A  hum  of  business  and  everyday  work  sur- 
rounded the  place,  and  it  seemed  refreshing 
to  note  the  stir  and  bustle  of  affairs.  Streams 
of  people  were'  entering  the  Court  as  we  ar- 
rived. They  were  inhabitants  and  watchers 
bringing  the  new  incarnations  to  the  Regis- 
teries to  have  their  origin  recorded  if  they 
could  recall  it.  Indeed  many  spirits  fail  utterly 
to  remember  their  former  condition,  and  hap- 
pen, as  we  might  say,  upon  Mars,  unex- 
plained and  inexplicable.  They  even  are  with- 
out speech  and  learn  the  Martian  language  as 
a  child  learns  to  talk. 

"We  pushed  in  with  the  jostling  crowd,  and 
even  as  I  entered  I  could  hear  the  murmur- 
ous chant  of  the  Chorus  Halls,  borne  hither- 
ward  on  the  morning  wind.  It  now  seemed 
a  long  time,  although  but  one  day  apparently 
had  elapsed  since   I   sat,  a  trail  of  luminous 


122 


ether,  undergoing  the  strange  process  of  ma- 
terialization. 

"How  incredible  it  all  was,  how  incompre- 
hensible. I  pinched  myself  until  I  could  have 
cried  out  with  pain,  and  at  that  very  instant 
a  voice  saluted  me,  calling  me  by  name  and 
a  rushing  figure  encountered  me.  I  stood 
transfixed.  Before  me  was  Chapman,  the 
mechanic,  workman,  and  photographer  for 
Mr.  Rutherford,  in  New  York  in  the  seven- 
ties, a  man  whom  I  knew  well,  from  whom  I 
had  learned  much,  and  whose  skill  helped  so 
largely  in  the  production  of  Rutherford's  nega- 
tives of  the  Moon.  My  repulsion  was  over 
in  an  instant.  I  clasped  him  heartily.  It 
seemed  so  good,  so  human,  to  embrace  some- 
thing in  this  strange  world.  An  equal  re- 
sistance met  my  own.  We  were  indeed  sub- 
stance. 

"  'Mr.  Dodd,'  exclaimed  my  old  acquaint- 
ance, 'are  you  here?  This  is  wonderful.  Have 
you  just  become  one  of  us?  What  luck! 
what  a  great  providence  for  me !  I  am  in 
the  observatory.  Must  sail  to-morrow  to 
Scandor  to  report  a  sudden  confusion  in  Per- 
seus. They  call  it  here  Pike.  You  shall  go 
with  me.  I  have  a  long  leave  of  absence".  I 
will  show  you  many  marvels.  And  you  can 
tell  me  everything  about  Tony.  He  was  a  baby 
when   I  knew  you.'     Turning  to  my   smiling 


123 


companion,  he  spoke  in  Martian,  of  which  to 
give  you  some  semblance  I  cipher  these 
words:  'Aru  meta  voluca  volu  li  tonti  tan 
dondore  mal  per  vuele  vonta  bidi  ami.' 

"I  returned  Chapman's  hearty  salutation.  I 
yet  retained  the  human  speech  of  earth  and  I 
was  struck  with  the  miraculous  incident  that 
in  the  planet  Mars,  in  a  populous  city,  I  was 
addressing  a  friend  in  the  English  tongue. 

"But  the  joy  of  it  was  inexpressible.  Oh, 
the  sweetness  of  old  acquaintanceship  in 
strange,  and  as  here,  impossible  surround- 
ings !  I  gazed  on  him  with  unspeakable  curi- 
osity. I  talked  to  him  just  to  hear  my  own 
voice  and  his  in  response,  to  realize  if  words 
were  still  words  with  the  old  meaning,  if  the 
intangible  mutation  I  had  undergone  was  a 
reality,  if  I  was  indeed  alive,  if  my  lungs  and 
throat,  the  configuration  of  my  mouth,  the 
vocalic  impact  of  the  air,  was  a  fact,  a  sound, 
a  meaning,  or  whether  it  all  was  some  phan- 
tasmagoria, beautiful  and  fair  indeed,  to  be 
dispelled  with  a  shock  of  annihilation. 

"No !  we  were  breathing,  sensate  things,  were 
human  kin  and  kind.  The  sudden  vertigo 
sent  me  throbbing,  like  a  stricken  animal, 
against  the  high  pillars  of  the  room  we  had 
entered,  and  a  reflex  tide  of  emotion  swept 
over  me  in  a  storm  that  shook  me  with  con- 
vulsive sobs. 


124 


"My  companion  handed  me  a  black  wafer. 
I  took  it,  it  dissolved,  a  fierce  acridity  seemed 
formed  in  my  mouth,  and  in  an  instant  I  felt 
strong  and  bold. 

"The  Registeries  were  offices  in  the  alcove- 
like openings  in  the  sides  of  this  very  long 
building.  In  the  same  building  were  the 
Courts,  which  are  few,  and  here  the  rooms 
for  the  teception  and  storage  of  supplies  for 
the  City.  The  Hall  of  Registeries  is  pro- 
longed into  a  series  of  huge  buildings  ex- 
tending along  the  walls  of  the   Canal. 

"I  was  led  by  my  unknown  friend  and 
Chapman  to  one  of  these  recesses  on  which 
I  recognized  a  globe  of  our  earth  with  its 
continents  in  relief.  Here  upon  simple  tables 
were  spread  great  bound  books  made  up  of 
thick  creamy  leaves  of  white  paper.  These 
were  the  Registers.  The  original  home,  planet, 
world,  or  star,  from  which  each  emigrant  spirit 
had  departed  was,  as  far  as  possible,  deter- 
mined, and  appropriately  recorded.  The  de- 
tails of  their  lives  were  inquired  into,  the  con- 
dition and  history  of  the  sphere  they  had  left 
examined,  and  thus  by  the  revision  and  com- 
parison of  these  narratives  the  history  of  the 
various  worlds  was  in  a  fair  way  known, 
almost  as  accurately  as  their  present  inhabitants 
knew  them. 

"The  alcoves  of  the  Registeries  were  really 


125 


ample  rooms.  Cases  holding  voluminous 
records  were  ranged  upon  their  walls;  maps, 
charts,  even  paintings  and  drawings,  as  made 
by  the  arriving  spirits  hung  upon  the  walls, 
and  in  broad  albums  were  gathered  the  por- 
traits, in  small  size,  of  the  incarnated  persons. 
The  Registerie's  were  young  men  who,  from 
long  intercourse  with  the  affairs  and  occupants 
of  each  of  the  different  extra-Martian  bodies, 
whence  spirits  came,  had  become  familiar  with 
their  languages  and  circumstances  and  avoca- 
tions. 

"The  keeping,  indexing,  compiling,  illus- 
tration, of  these  extraordinary  records  is  a 
difficult  and  inexhaustible  task. 

"The  results  are  often  reproduced  to  the 
Martians  in  lectures,  bulletins,  or  in  sections 
of  the  great  newspaper  Dia. 

"The  young  men  approached  us  as  we  en- 
tered the  room,  and  after  saluting  my  guide 
and  also  Chapman  with  the  Martian  cry,  Tin- 
totita,  led  me  to  a  chair,  and  giving  me  one  of 
the  black  wafers,  whose  acidity  had  a  short 
time  before  so  vigorously  renewed  my  con- 
sciousness, began  their  inquiry. 

"The  photograph  of  each  visitor  is  taken, 
and  a  process  quite  like  our  collodion  or  wet 
process  is  used.  The  portraits  are  more  per- 
manent than  with  the  perishable  dry  plates. 
It   is   a   curious   thing  to  learn  that   for   ioo 


126 


years  these  records  and  pictures  have  been 
taken,  and  that  there  are  on  Mars  hosts  of 
unidentified  spirits,  who  entered  its  wondrous 
precincts  before  that  time. 

"The  duration  of  life  in  Mars  is  very  vari- 
ous. There  seems  here  an  undiscovered  law, 
and  a  group  of  observers  in  Mars  are  to-day 
trying  to  penetrate  this  mystery.  It  is  as- 
serted that  there  is  evidence  that  Egyptians  of 
the  ante-Christian  epoch  are  to-day  living  in 
Mars,  but  their  identification  is  now  almost  im- 
possible. On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  fact  as- 
certained and  recorded  that  in  one  hundred 
years  many  Martians  die,  while  others  scarcely 
survive  the  ordinary  limit  of  our  human  life  on 
earth.  This  gives  a  great  interest  to  Martian 
society.  Here  for  ages  have  possibly  flown 
disembodied  spirits  from  our  earth ;  in  their 
reincarnation  they  have  assumed  the  features 
and  faculties  of  youth ;  they  have  also,  under 
changed  conditions  of  life,  and  moderated 
functions  and  activity  in  living,  been  physi- 
cally, perhaps  mentally,  modified.  Their  own 
memory  of  their  past  on  Earth,  however  vivid, 
and  then  in  exceptional  beings,  has  slowly  dis- 
appeared or  left  only  vague  cloud-like  waver- 
ings and  congeries  of  reminiscences. 

"So  that  great  human  souls  that  have  en- 
tered Mars  in  the  early  centuries  of  our  earth's 
historic  periods  may  be  living  here  almost  un- 


127 


recognized.  They  have  drifted  into  occupa- 
tions suitable  to  their  genius  in  some  of  the 
many  great  cities,  and  no  vestige  of  their  past 
remains.  The  system  of  the  Registeries  is 
scarcely  a  century  old,  and  while  now  from  the 
marvellous  industry  and  persistence  of  the  in- 
vestigators, the  great  ones  of  the  neighboring 
worlds,  and  even  the  most  obscure  are  in 
some  cognizable  way  identified,  yet  from  the 
long  ages  before  that  there  is  almost  no  au- 
thentic registration. 

"This  is  more  to  be  regretted  as  the  law  of 
life  on  the  planet  might  then  be  better  formu- 
lated. Essentially  it  seems  necessary  for  ex- 
istence here  to  be  in  unison  with  the  condi- 
tions; contentment  means  longevity.  Of 
course,  the  remarkable  men  and  women  I  saw 
at  the  Patenta  were  all  well  known.  They  had 
made  themselves  known,  and  not  only  were 
their  earthly  names  and  lives  put  down  on  the 
pages  of  the  Registers,  but  all  their  knowl- 
edge had  been  as  inquisitively  and  scrupulous- 
ly impressed.  Nor  is  this  all.  From  many 
worlds  and  earths  there  is  flowing  constantly 
to  this  planet  new,  strange,  wonderful  beings. 
Here  is  a  cosmos  of  races,  tastes,  nationali- 
ties, destinies,  civilizations,  and  instincts,  from 
whose  amalgamated  and  fused  vortices  of 
tendency  this  marvellous  life  has  been  formed. 

"However  completely  the  mere  memory  of 


128 


detail  vanishes,  the  traits  of  nature  remain, 
and  these  mingling  beings  present  a  kaleido- 
scope of  contrasted  or  blending  talents.  But 
union  of  beings  comes  in  here  as  in  our  States 
to  combine  all  together  and  create  this  unique 
expression  of  social  beauty,  tenderness,  scien- 
tific power,  progress  and  spiritual  exaltation. 
Marriage  is  here  as  with  us,  and  love  holds  its 
deathless  sway  among  the  white  and  noble 
Martians  as  on  earth,  while  the  affection  of 
friendship  seems  to  weave  every  atom  of  so- 
ciety to  every  other  atom  in  a  social  texture 
over  which  only  moves  the  refining  powers  of 
thought  and  aspiration. 

"Mars  does  indeed  seem  a  sort  of  Paradise, 
for  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  best,  the  truest, 
the  deeper  and  emphatic  souls  come  here;  and 
while  a  sort  of  sin  or  social  incompatibility  is 
found  here,  and  there  are  crimes,  and  while 
death  and  sickness  and  accidents  occur  here, 
as  I  have  told  you,  yet  these  things  have  a 
moral  or  mental,  rather  than  physical  expres- 
sion. At  least,  in  a  great  measure,  and  they 
are  rare.  No !  accidents  of  matter  pertain  to 
Mars ;  its  materiality  is  complete.  As  I  send 
this  to  you  I  feel  my  warmth,  the  heat  of  my 
body,  the  expiration  of  my  breath,  the  move- 
ments of  my  eyes,  the  beating  of  my  heart, 
all,  all,  these  bodily  phenomena  seem  un- 
changed— their    physiology    is    changed,    their 


129 


corporate  reality  seems  the  same,  their  cor- 
poreal consequences  are  different.  But  I  can- 
not explain  clearly  this  to  you.  Do  I  know  it 
clearly  myself? 

"I  was  questioned  by  the  Registeries,  both  of 
whom  had  come  from  the  earth,  though  in  them, 
as  in  all  the  less  highly  endowed,  memory  was 
fading.  Because  of  this,  Registeries  quickly 
succeed  each  other,  since  the  later  arrivals 
from  the  other  worlds  are  better  adapted  to 
elicit  the  information  needed  from  the  new 
spirits.  And  this  applies  to  other  worlds,  to 
Mercury  and  Venus,  etc.,  whose  Registeries 
are,  so  far  as  possible,  appointed  from  previous 
occupants  of  those  spheres. 

"The  larger,  far  larger  percentage  of  spir- 
its come  from  the  three  planets,  Mercury, 
Venus  and  the  Earth ;  but  there  are  singular 
inexplicable  arrivals  from  distant  stars,  and  of 
these  the  records  are  in  many  instances  of  ex- 
traordinary wonderfulness.  I  must  not  pause 
to  recount  this.     I  know  it  very  imperfectly. 

"My  examiners  had  little  to  do.  My  mem- 
ory seemed  of  great  power,  and  I  told  them 
the  story  of  our  experiments,  discoveries  and 
our  compact  to  communicate  with  each  other. 
This  portion  of  my  story  was  listened  to  with 
admiration.  Chapman,  my  guide,  and  the  two 
Registeries  leaped  to  their  feet,  exclaimed 
with  delight  and  embraced  each  other  in  ec- 


130 


stacy.  'At  last !  At  last !'  cried  out  all  of 
them,  while  hastily  calling  officers  of  the  build- 
ing to  them  they  rapidly  explained  my  sin- 
gular announcement.  It  seemed  to  run  like 
fire  through  the  throngs.  A  great  crowd  was 
soon  pressing  in  upon  us  on  every  side,  while 
the  Martian  ejaculation  'Hi  mitla'  rang  in  all 
directions.  I  was  astounded.  What  was  this 
strange  excitement,  and  why  had  my  simple 
tale  awakened  this  fierce  commotion? 

"My  guide  noting  my  dismay  and  alarm, 
laughingly  explained  the  reason  of  the  confu- 
sion. 'For  years  and  years,'  he  said,  'it  has 
been  hoped  by  the  Martians  to  send  some  mes- 
sage to  the  Earth.  We  understand  wireless 
telegraphy,  we  can  bridge  almost  infinite  dis- 
tances with  the  monstrous  waves  of  magnetic 
disturbances,  it  is  possible  for  us  to  generate. 
We  have  bombarded  the  earth  with  magnetic 
waves,  but  no  response,  no  single  indication 
has  been  returned  to  us  that  our  messages 
were  received.  Our  knowledge  of  the  earth 
language  is  complete,  even  our  knowledge  of 
the  telegraphic  codes  is  partially  so.  But  we 
have  hopelessly  repeated,  are  even  now  repeat- 
ing these  efforts. 

"  'You,  my  friend,  are  the  first  man  from 
Earth  who  tells  us  that  wireless  telegraphy  is 
understood  upon  Earth,  that  receivers  have 
been   invented;   but   above   all   it   amazes   and 


131 

transports  us  to  know  that  you  have  perfected 
means,  before  leaving  the  Earth,  to  have  such 
messages  as  you  may  deliver  from  Mars  prop- 
erly received.  There  is,  though,'  he  exclaimed, 
as  he  turned  to  the  eager,  shining  faces  about 
me,  'still  a  grave  doubt  whether  our  good 
friend  can  assure  us  of  the  ability  of  the 
Earthlings  to  send  us  back  any  communication. 
They  may  be  unable  to  force  through  this  enor- 
mous distance  waves  of  sufficient  magnitude 
to  reach  us.' 

"There  was  a  loud  murmur  of  disappoint- 
ment, mingled  with  exclamations  of  dissent 
and  reproach.  Once  more  I  was  plied  with 
questions,  and  then,  my  son,  there  came  to 
me,  singularly  clouded  in  forgetfulness  until 
that  instant,  the  memory  of  that  fruitless  mes- 
sage which  we  received  about  a  year  before  my 
death  on  Earth. 

"I  arose,  and  amid  a  hush  of  expectation  ex- 
cited by  this  motion,  accompanied  as  it  were 
with  a  gesture  inviting  silence,  spoke  aloud  in 
English : 

'"My  friends,  I  recall  a  night  in  August, 
1890,  in  the  Earth's  chronology,  when  my  son 
and  myself,  then  hoping  against  hope  that  the 
carefully  adjusted  receiver  we  had,  would  ever 
be  called  upon  to  herald  a  message  from  an- 
other world,  were  suddenly  surprised  to  see 
and  hear  the  register  of  our  instrument  move 


132 


and  sound.  It  was  indeed  animated  by  some 
extra  terrestrial  power.  Could  that  power 
have  come  from  your  Mars;  were  we  the  first 
to  receive  one  of  your  messages  that  you  have 
so  long  been  raining  on  the  Earth?' 

"I  looked  around  in  enthusiasm,  and  with  a 
conscious  sense  of  companionship,  pride  and 
affection.  I  do  not  think  I  was  altogether 
understood,  except  by  a  few,  but  the  contagion 
of  my  own  pleasure  seized  the  multitude,  and 
a  great  melodious  shout  arose,  while  cries  of 
'Hi  mitla'  echoed  in  the  Hall,  and  then,  carried 
away  with  an  emotional  impulse,  these  excited 
Martians  broke  into  a  song,  a  swinging  chant, 
that  brought  to  the  doors  of  the  room  new  ac- 
cessions of  spectators  whose  instantaneous 
sympathy  was  expressed  by  the  added  volume 
of  sound  they  contributed,  until  beneath  the 
vibrant  power  of  the  great  chorus  the  building 
seemed  itself  to  tremble. 

"And  then  a  curious  and  astounding  thing 
happened.  My  old  acquaintance,  Chapman, 
leaped  up  in  the  dense  clusters,  and  springing 
on  a  table  shouted,  'To  the  Patenta.'  The 
words  seemed  understood  by  almost  all.  I 
was  seized  by  powerful  arms,  swung  upon  the 
shoulders  of  two  splendid,  vigorous  youths. 
While  by  one  impulse  the  throng  surged 
through  the  doors  in  a  sort  of  triumphal  prog- 
ress, I  found  myself  moving  in  the  midst  of 


133 


the  excited  populace  up  a  broad  avenue  to  the 
central  hill  of  the  city  again,  which  was 
crowned  by  the  many  towers,  halls,  domes 
and  aggregated  arms  and  fagades  of  the  won- 
derful Patenta,  the  great  communal  home  of 
Experiment  and  Observation. 

"The  clamor  of  our  approach  brought  to 
the  scene  the  dwellers  in  the  houses  and  the 
wanderers  in  the  streets.  And  amongst  the 
great  density  of  forms  and  faces  I  saw  the 
phosphorescent  figures  of  many  forming  spir- 
its swept  on  in  this  friendly  anarchy  of  de- 
light and  anticipation. 

''My  son,  as  I  send  these  words  out  into  the 
ether-filled  realms  of  space  across  the  mil- 
lions of  miles  that  intervene  between  that 
speck  of  light  on  which  even  now  I  know  you 
lament  my  departure,  and  this  new  home  of 
mine,  which  to  you  also  is  but  a  speck  of 
light,  I  feel  in  a  desperation  of  doubt  that  you 
will  never  hear  them. 

"How  thrilled  and  awe-struck  I  became  as 
I  gazed  around  me,  and  looking  over  the  surg- 
ing mob  beheld  their  multitudinous  lineaments, 
the  faces  of  the  races  of  our  earth,  its  many 
nations,  the  faces  of  men  or  women  who  had 
lived  in  Venus,  in  Mercury,  in  the  fixed  stars, 
perhaps,  as  we  call  those  globes  from  whose 
lambent  surface  light  reached  the  earth  after 
the  expiration  of  a  century  of  years.     What 


134 


a  beautiful  exhilaration  of  feeling  it  imparted, 
these  flushed  and  shining  faces,  the  liquid 
eyes  of  the  south  now  charged  with  the  fires  of 
transporting  expectation,  the  steady  gaze  of 
blue-eyed  northerners  firm  and  rapt  and  stead- 
fast ;  the  power  of  huge,  colossal  frames  of 
muscle,  the  sinuous  activity  of  spare  and  slen- 
der forms  all  attired  in  that  consummate  garb 
of  blue  and  white,  their  caps  of  metal  reflect- 
ing the  light  in  cerulean  lustres. 

"On,  upward,  we  moved,  impelled  by  an  im- 
pulse quite  indefinable  but  sufficient  to  con- 
dense about  us  by  its  contagion  the  Martian 
populace,  quick,  responsive,  inquisitive,  intel- 
ligent and  excitable  as  children.  We  were  ap- 
proaching the  Patenta  by  an  ever  widening 
avenue,  our  rustling  approach  announced  by  a 
chant  of  vociferous  and  yet  melodious  notes. 

"The  avenue  of  Approach  is  known  as  the 
Imprintum.  On  either  side  rose  lines  of  mar- 
ble columns,  their  lofty  capitals  crowned  with 
statues,  their  bases  clustering  with  marble 
groups,  while  breaking  now  and  then  the  white 
monotony,  spiral  and  intertwining  pillars  of 
colored  glass  sprang  into  the  air,  like  titanic 
tropical  vines  holding  in  extended  fingers  the 
balls  of  phosphori. 

"The  pavement  we  trod  was  made  of  blocks 
of  the  phosphori,  and  at  night  this  magnificent, 
indescribable  and  transcendent  street  becomes 


135 


a  path  of  flame,  showering  upon  the  files  of 
silent  marble  statues  above  it  the  splendor  of 
this  spectral  effulgence. 

"As  we  came  near  the  buildings  of  the  Pa- 
tenta  our  outcry  and  the  sonorous  pulsations 
of  the  singing  brought  to  its  windows  and 
doorways  the  many  workers  in  the  labora- 
tories, lecture  halls,  and  offices.  We  were  re- 
garded with  wonder.  But  there  seems  present 
amongst  these  people  a  telepathic  power,  not 
perhaps  what  we  call  that  in  the  Earth,  but 
an  intuitive  construction  of  meaning  upon  the 
passing  of  a  word  or  a  hint.  Forerunners  fur- 
thermore had  given  some  account  of  the 
strange  new  spirit  from  the  Earth,  who  had 
prearranged  with  people  on  the  Earth  itself, 
to  return  to  them,  if  possible,  messages  of  his 
experiences  after  a  human  death.  It  had  been 
the  dream  of  the  Martians,  the  sensation  of 
their  daily  lives,  the  hope  of  returning  to 
their  former  dwelling  places,  some  token, 
word,  salutation,  indeed  to  somehow  begin  that 
almost  apocryphal  conception  of  binding  the 
Universe  into  a  conversational  unit. 

"No  marvel  that  they  were  now  excited, 
transported ;  no  wonder  that  I,  the  accidental 
being,  who  falling  in  their  world,  as  it  were, 
from  outside,  should  be  the  agency  to  lead  to 
the  eventual  conquest  of  these  great  designs. 

"On  we  swept  like  a  tide  that  advances  upon 


136 


a  coast,  encompasses  each  salient  rock,  island 
and  projection,  and  evading  it  by  embracing 
it,  rises  still  further  into  the  bays  and  harbors, 
and  brings  the  full  tide  at  last  to  its  most  re- 
mote limits.  So  columns  and  stairways,  halls, 
and  wings,  and  arms,  of  buildings  successively 
were  surged  round,  and  the  vast  complex 
pushed  its  way  to  the  great  Hall  of  Attention. 

"This  enormous  structure  was  built  some- 
what to  one  side  of  the  great  Observatories. 
It  was  rectangular,  elevated  and  attained  to 
by  stairs  on  every  side.  It  resembles  a  huge 
Grecian  temple,  but  the  interior  treatment  was 
quite  contrasted.  Externally  it  was  made  of 
the  white  phosphorescent  marble  with  colon- 
nades of  columns  of  the  blue  metal  supporting 
its  projecting  roofs.  I  was  carried  as  by  a 
cataract  of  waters  up  its  stairways.  Already 
its  bronze  gates  were  swung  wide  open,  and 
through  them  the  Martian  army  passed  with 
impetuous  stride.  Learned  men,  the  leaders 
and  great  physicists,  many  of  those  I  had  seen 
in  the  morning  had  reached  the  Hall.  These 
were  constantly  augmented  by  new  arrivals 
from  the  more  distant  Schools  of  Philosophy, 
Design  and  Art,  while  streaming  in  at  every 
door  came  the  joyous  multitude,  and  the  great 
vault  of  the  Hall  of  Attention  resounded  with 
the  rolling  chorus. 

"It  was  a  moving,  an  impossible  spectacle. 


137 


The  balconies  swept  upward  to  a  wall  of  pol- 
ished granite.  They  were  supported  by  columns 
of  mosaic  marble;  the  floor  of  roughened 
glass  was  concealed  with  benches  of  a  gray 
stone,  whose  backs  were  carved  in  a  tracery 
of  branches,  over  which  were  thrown  pale  yel- 
low rugs  or  shawls;  the  broad  ceiling  was  di- 
vided into  deep,  rectangular  recesses  pla- 
fondcd  with  opalescent  glass,  and  these  re- 
cesses were  made  by  the  intersection  of  huge 
girders  of  the  blue  metal,  while  provisions 
were  made  throughout  for  electric  lighting  by 
tall  glass  cylinders,  which  glow  like  pillars  of 
lambent  flame,  and  stood  upright,  affixed  to 
the  walls  at  regular  intervals,  or  concealed  in 
cavities  along  the  ceiling,  or  grouped  like  the 
fasces  of  the  Roman  lictors,  at  the  railings  of 
the  balconies. 

"A  wide  platform  occupied  the  center  of 
this  vast  auditorium,  and  upon  this  I  was 
carried  as  by  a  wave  of  the  sea.  Here  I 
touched  the  floor;  the  accompanying  crowds 
dispersed  through  the  hall,  which  became  filled, 
and  as  it  filled  some  unnoticed  signal  ushered 
the  glow  of  the  electric  ether  in  the  cylinders, 
until  a  glory  of  radiance  mingled  with  the 
sunlight  and  illuminated  the  audience,  whose 
songs  had  died  away,  and  who  sat  in  atti- 
tudes of  attention,  their  faces  upturned,  their 


138 


blue  caps  shining  resplendently,  like  a  sur- 
face of  tempered  steel. 

"I  stood  alone  with  my  former  guide,  and 
Chapman.  I  felt  moved  by  some  singular  en- 
thusiasm ;  the  exaltation  of  the  moment  pos- 
sessed me,  and  unannounced,  as  yet  unques- 
tioned, I  rose  to  my  full  height  upon  a  nar- 
row rostrum  in  the  platform,  and  turning  from 
side  to  side  spoke  with  an  elation  that  seemed 
to  propel  my  ringing  words  over  the  great  as- 
sembly with  the  power  and  shock  of  a 
trumpet : 

"  'Men  and  women,'  I  cried,  'I  have  reached 
your  wonderful  world  from  that  habitation  of 
mortal  men  known  to  many  of  you  as  the 
Earth,  where  death  ceaselessly  destroys  gener- 
ation after  generation,  and  only  the  incessant 
processes  of  birth  as  quickly  renew  the  falling 
ranks  of  life.  To  us  on  earth,  the  disap- 
pearance of  those  we  love  and  cherish,  the 
sundering  of  ties  which  a  lifetime  of  love  and 
companionship  has  established,  the  sharp  van- 
ishing away  into  nothingness  and  silence  of 
the  faces  and  spirits  of  the  great  and  glorious, 
the  good,  the  helpful,  the  true  and  noble,  has 
made  death  an  awful,  hideous,  to  some  a  hope- 
less mystery. 

"  'We  stand  on  earth  speechless  before  the 
unseen  power  which  snatches  from  our  ca- 
resses all  that  we  most  cherish,  all  that  makes 


139 


our  life  there  worth  living.  There  is  no  solu- 
tion of  the  mystery,  no  voice,  no  return,  no 
message,  only  a  blankness  of  doubt,  misgiving 
and  desoerate  yearning  in  those  who  must  con- 
tinue. There  is  indeed  with  those  on  Earth  a 
partial  confidence  by  reason  of  religious  faith, 
but  strong  as  that  seems  to  be,  the  endless 
succession  of  centuries,  each  crowding  the 
viewless  habitations  of  the  dead  with  the  still 
more  and  deeper  streams  of  disembodied 
souls,  unaccompanied  by  any  response,  any  ut- 
terance or  return,  limit  or  telltale  apparition, 
has  somehow  filled  all  minds  with  a  creeping 
wonder  if  even  the  assurances  of  Revelation 
can  be  believed. 

"  'Dying  on  the  Earth  may  have  continued  in 
historic,  and  what  is  called  prehistoric  time, 
for  over  50000  years,  and  yet  from  those  un- 
numbered millions  not  a  cry  or  a  whisper, 
note,  or  vision,  is  heard  or  seen  to  betray  their 
destiny,  if  destiny  beyond  the  grave  there  is. 

*'  'But  back  of  Religion,  back  of  experience, 
back  of  rational  doubt  or  infidelity,  the  heart 
keeps  up  its  importunate  cry  of  hope.  We 
dare  not  crush  out  within  us  the  sweet  thought 
of  reunion.  Upon  that  earth  I  lost  a  wife, 
who  summed  up  to  me  everything  of  value, 
virtue,  a^d  beauty  human  life  can  claim.  The 
passionate  desire  to  regain  her,  the  defiant  mu- 
tiny of  my  heart  against  any  thought  of  her 


140 

annihilation,  made  me  turn  to  the  shining 
hosts  of  heaven  for  reassurance.  In  them 
somewhere  I  believed  the  vanished  soul  of  my 
companion  had  flown.  This  wonderful  world 
was  known  to  me,  and  what  the  wise  men  of 
the  Earth  said  of  its  possible  population.  It 
was  then  that  with  my  son  I  devised,  follow- 
ing certain  suggestions,  a  system  of  wireless 
telegraphy.  We  have  both,  my  son  and  my- 
self, felt  certain  that  some  disturbance"  was 
recorded  by  our  instrument  from  some  planet 
beyond  the  earth.  From  that  moment  my  son 
and  myself  felt  convinced  that  we  might  be 
permitted  to  bring  about  a  release  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Earth  from  the  narrow  limits 
of  its  own  surface,  and  launch  out  upon  the 
spaces  of  the  universe  the  messages  that  would 
return  to  us  with  some  news  of  other  worlds, 
or  bring  assurance  that  the  Death  of  the  world 
was  but  the  swinging  door  to  some  new  ex- 
istence. 

"  'Men  of  Mars,  that  Death  which  tore  from 
me  my  wife  set  his  seal  at  last  on  me,  but  be- 
fore the  summons  was  executed,  I  had  made 
arrangements  in  every  possible  detail  to  com- 
municate with  my  son.  We  agreed  upon  a 
cypher,  and  I  have  so  imprinted  each  meas- 
ure of  our  compact  upon  my  memory  that  all 
of  it  is  as  clear  to  my  mind  as  it  was  before  I 
left  the  Earth.     Give  me  possession  of  your 


141 


great  instruments,  let  me  bridge  the  millions 
of  miles  to  our  earth,  and  in  an  instant  stir  the 
populations  of  the  Earth  into  fierce  atten- 
tion, so  that  from  now  on  through  all  the 
coming  years  you  Martians  shall  speak  with 
the  people  of  the  earth  and  again  from  Mars, 
as  from  some  relay  station,  messages  shall  pass 
outward  to  the  stars,  and  thus  from  planet  to 
planet  the  reinforced  utterance  may  pierce  the 
universe  of  worlds.' 

"I  finished ;  a  great  shout  arose  from  the  im- 
mense multitude;  with  one  impulse  the  light 
blue  metal  caps  were  swung  from  their  heads 
and  tossed  upward,  while  the  cheers  passing 
out  into  the  streets  were  caught  up,  and  in  re- 
fluent waves  of  sound  rolled  back  upon  me  like 
the  murmur  of  a  distant  storm  at  sea. 

"I  do  not  think  I  was  quite  understood,  but 
the  chief  feature  of  my  speech  was  realized, 
and  the  Martians,  quick  to  respond  to  any  sug- 
gestion, and  inflammable  of  nature,  had  be- 
come enthusiastic  over  the  prospects  of  this 
new  revelation. 

"I  stood  an  instant  uncertain  what  I  should 
do,  or  what  new  development  would  follow  my 
evident  popularity.  Suddenly  a  strong,  ring- 
ing voice  spoke  from  the  gallery  immediately 
in  front  of  me.  It  said — I  could  not  quite  sep- 
arate the  speaker  in  the  moving  throng:  'Come 
to  the  Manana.' 


142 


"Chapman  and  my  friend  whispered  to- 
gether 'Volta,'  and  then  turning  to  me  told 
me  to  follow  them.  I  followed.  Already  the 
hail  had  become  partially  emptied,  and  we 
pushed  onward  amongst  radiant  men  and  wom- 
en, who  received  me  with  smiles  and  gestures 
of  approval.  Once  outside  the  Hall  of  At- 
tention, we  hurried  through  some  narrow  cor- 
ridors, up  winding  stairways,  until  at  length 
we  emerged  upon  a  lofty  platform  carrying  a 
railing  about  it,  and  so  elevated  above  all  the 
surrounding  buildings  of  the  Patenta  that  my 
glance  seemed  to  sweep  the  circuit  of  the  City, 
and  swept  outward  over  a  rolling  and  low 
country  through  which  ran  wide  mirror-like 
ribbons  of  water,  the  great  canals  of  Mars, 
while  afar  off  melting  into  the  crystalline  hazes 
of  the  horizon  rose  dark  masses  of  mountains. 

"I  stood  an  instant  stupified  and  overcome. 
The  deep  voice  of  a  salutation  came  to  my 
ears,  and  turning  I  saw  the  face  of  Volta. 
Beside  me  was  a  large  induction  coil,  and 
above  it  two  huge  plates  of  copper  about  ten 
feet  apart.  The  next  instant  a  flash  passed  be- 
tween the  electrodes,  and  I  was  caught  and 
turned  aside  with  my  companions.  The  light 
of  the  spark  was  intense,  and  the  spark  itself 
of  great  dimensions. 

"Volta  then  spoke:  'My  friend,  your  arrival 
on  the  surface  of  our  planet  is  a  sensation. 


143 


We  are  all  delighted.  You  have  solved  our 
difficulties.  With  this  transmitter  you  can 
yourself  send  to  the  earth  the  message  you 
wish.  And  this  receiver  will  catch  the  waves 
of  the  smallest  amplitudes.' 

"He  pointed  to  a  singular  train  of  tubes, 
each  filled  apparently  with  a  shining  line  of 
straw  shaped  metallic  bodies.  This  was  raised 
by  some  silk  cord  passing  to  a  pulley  and 
arm,  perhaps  a  hundred  feet  above  us. 

"Volta  spoke  with  difficulty ;  he  seemed  pre- 
occupied, and  after  I  was  shown  the  trans- 
mitter, and  its  mechanism  was  explained,  he 
took  my  hand  warmly,  pressed  it  between 
his  own,  and  then  speaking  in  the  Martian 
tongue  to  Chapman,  left  us. 

"I  then  sent  you,  my  son,  my  first  message. 
What  pleasure !  The  great  sparks  flashed 
magnificently.  Chapman  and  my  friend  were 
in  ecstacies.  I  worked  steadily  until  the 
night.  And  when  all  was  over  I  waited  until 
the  stars  came  out,  until  again  the  City  of 
Light  shone  like  some  huge,  myriad  faceted 
stone,  and  then  there  came,  while  Chapman 
and  my  friend  stood  mute  beside  me,  your 
faint  response. 

"I  scarcely  caught  the  lisping  ticks,  but  they 
came,  and  it  seemed  indeed  as  if  the  power  of 
the  Creator  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  men. 

"With  a  joy  too  deep  for  the  futile  hopeless- 


144 


ness  of  words  to  express,  we  both  descended 
from  the  high  station  and  through  the  great 
halls.  I  found  my  way  to  the  charming,  peace- 
ful room  above  the  glowing  city  and  fell 
asleep  with  prayers  upon  my  lips  for  all  the 
dead  and  dying  upon  the  Earth. 

"The  next  day  as  I  awoke  I  found  my  friend 
and  Chapman  waiting  for  me.  I  felt  wonder- 
fully refreshed,  and  the  exultant  mood  of  the 
Martians  possessed  me.  I  sang  with  an  in- 
terior tumult  of  excitement.  I  drew  before 
my  mind  the  beauty  of  your  mother  reincor- 
porated in  this  gay,  lovely  world  of  Mars,  so 
full  of  power  and  light  and  youthful  impulse. 
Again  I  sang,  and  it  was  the  very  air  your 
mother  so  often  played  to  me,  'Der  Grune 
Lauterband,'  of  Schubert.  A  few  passers  by, 
below  my  window,  caught  the  refrain,  my 
voice  rose  higher  and  higher,  and  their  dis- 
appearing figures  seemed  to  carry  the  merry, 
hopping  notes  far  away.  How  fair  and  glo- 
rious it  all  was ! 

"And  I  was  to  visit  Scandor,  to  visit  the 
beautiful  Martian  country,  the  mines,  the  huge 
fossil  ivory  deposits,  to  sail  on  those  canals, 
whose  resplendent  lines  we  had  detected  from 
the  earth. 

"My  door  was  shaken,  and  almost  as  if  yet 
living  on  the  earth,  I  cried  out  'Come  in.' 
Chapman  and  my  friend  entered  with  laugh- 


145 


ter  and  congratulation.  Chapman  spoke  first : 
'Dodd,  you  are  summoned  to  the  Council  of 
the  Patenta.  All  are  anxious  to  see  you.  At 
present  it  is  hoped  you  will  not  push  further 
the  matter  of  the  telegraphy  with  the  Earth. 
The  disturbances  in  Pike  increase  daily — flash- 
ing stars  seem  to  emerge  from  nothing,  me- 
teoric showers,  like  a  rain  of  sparks  rush  across 
the  fields  of  the  telescope's,  gaseous  disengage- 
ments from  what  seem  like  shining  nuclei, 
shoot  upward  for  thousands  of  miles  from 
their  surfaces;  all  is  chaos,  and  these  disturb- 
ances have  been  noticed  in  other  regions  of 
the  heavens.  Again  spirits  have  ceased  arriv- 
ing at  the  Hill  of  the  Phosphori,  the  Chorus 
Halls  are  almost  empty,  and  the  singers  have 
no  employment.  Such  a  dearth  of  spirits  has 
not  been  known  before  for  months.  It  is  not 
uncommon  for  long  intervals  to  occur  when 
only  a  few  spirits  arrive,  but  now  there  are 
none. 

"  'The  Registeries  report  that  many  lately 
reincarnated  spirits  speak  the  languages  of 
Venus  and  Mercury,  and  tell  of  the  terrific 
physical  convulsions  in  both  planets,  that  wars 
are  raging  in  Mercury,  and  a  singular  plague 
devastating  Venus.  The  country  people  have 
sent  in  word  by  the  canals  that  rockets  in  clus- 
ters covering  hundreds  of  square  miles  are 
arising    from    Scandor.      The    cause   is    un- 


146 


known,  cannot  even  be  surmised,  and  last  night 
Herschell  and  Gauss,  at  the  big  telescopes, 
detected  a  comet  charging  towards  us  with  an 
incredible  velocity.  The  Council  believe  I 
should  at  once  start  for  Scandor  to  bring  the 
month's  report,  and  these  new  excitements, 
to  the  paper  Dia,  while  they  urge  that  you 
should  recount  to  the  governors  at  Scandor 
your  story,  and  the  marvellous  fact  of  the  an- 
swer sent  back  from  the  Earth  to  you  by  your 
son.  We  will  go,  after  an  audience  with  the 
Council,  together,  and  because  of  some  need  of 
more  stone  from  the  quarries,  we  will  stop  on 
our  way  out  and  leave  orders  at  Mit  and  Sin- 
si,  where  the  quarries  are.  The  trip  is  full  of 
beauty  and  wonder,  and  Scandor,  I  am  told,  is 
Heaven  itself.' 

"He  paused.  I  thought  there  was  a  shade  of 
disappointment  in  my  friend's  face,  as  Chap- 
man drew  me  to  one  side,  and  I  stepped  quick- 
ly back  to  him,  and  said :  'Will  you  not  go 
with  us,  too?  You  first  cared  for  me  and 
brought  me  food  and  raiment.'  His  eyes  were 
again  bright  with  peace.  'No,  my  new  friend, 
I  cannot  go  now.  I  am  waiting,  waiting  here 
at  the  City  of  Light,  watching  the  spirits,  if 
perchance  my  son  from  your  earth  is  amongst 
them.  Surely  he  will  come  some  day,  and  then 
my  happiness  will  be  all  God  can  make  it.' 

"We  hurried  away  to  the  Chamber  of  the 


147 


Council.  Once  more  through  the  devious 
paths  of  the  great  groups  of  buildings  which 
make  up  the  Patenta,  between  the  flowering 
trees  and  the  tulip  flowered  vines  we  made 
our  way,  with  feet  so  buoyant  and  so  strong 
that  we  seemed  almost  to  fly. 

"The  Chamber  of  the  Council  of  the  Pa- 
tenta was  a  beautiful  room.  It  was  one  of  the 
few  great  chambers  in  the  City  of  Light, 
dressed  in  color  and  tapestries.  A  deep  car- 
pet of  scarlet  Talta  wool  covered  the  floor, 
and  there  hung  at  irregular  intervals  from  a 
silver  cornice  deep  green  curtains.  The  fur- 
niture was  very  wonderful.  A  dark  wood,  like 
teak,  opulently  fitted  with  silver,  formed  the 
great  table  that  occupied  the  center  of  the 
room,  as  also  the  heavy  chairs  on  which  were 
placed  cushions  of  a  golden  yellow  silk.  There 
were  no  windows  in  the  room.  The  light 
entered  from  above  through  two  simple  round 
apertures  covered  with  white  glass.  Book 
cases  stood  about  the  room  filled  with  large 
folios,  which,  as  I  observed  from  a  few  spread 
upon  the  table,  were  not  printed  books,  but 
filled  with  writing  in  a  round,  clear  hand,  leg- 
ible at  some  distance. 

"But  the  most  extraordinary  feature  of  the 
rccm  was  a  marvellous  colossal  figure  at  one 
end  of  the  room,  in  a  recess  richly  hung  with 
green  tapestries.     It  was  cast  in  silver  upon 


148 

which  dull  shades  and  frosted  and  polished 
surfaces  were  appropriately  combined,  as  their 
position  required,  in  the  portrayal  of  a  Being 
of  incredible  benignity  of  expression,  attired 
in  flowing  robes  with  an  outstretched  hand,  his 
face  invested  with  a  harmonious  union  of 
power  and  sweetness.  Beneath  it  upon  the 
enormous  black  pedestal  the  letters  in  silver 
were  conspicuous — Tarunta — the  Deity.  This 
amazing  creation  arrested  the  attention  of  my 
friend  Chapman,  and  myself,  and  we  stood 
half  spell-bound  under  the  influence  of  its 
seraphic  and  potent  beauty. 

"The  next  moment  we  were  conscious  of 
the  throng  filling  the  room.  There  were  many 
of  the  great  physicists  and  chemists  and  as- 
tronomers and  observers  whom  I  had  seen  at 
the  breakfast  in  the  Dining  Hall  the  previous 
morning  with  a  few  others  who  were  the  first 
men  I  had  seen  in  Mars  wearing  the  expres- 
sion of  age.  They  almost  seemed  venerable. 
I  remembered  then  what  I  had  learned  on  my 
arrival  at  the  Patenta — that  age  and  death  also 
supervene  in  Mars. 

"I  was  observed  at  once,  and  friendly  hands 
were  extended  to  me  from  all  sides.  I  was 
led  to  the  head  of  the  table.  There  I  was  in- 
vited to  enlarge  my  story  as  given  in  the  Hall 
of  Attention,  and  I  was  told  to  tell  it  in  Eng- 


149 

lish.  A  scribe  near  me  conveyed  to  pads  of 
paper  my  narrative. 

"When  I  had  finished  an  audible  murmur 
of  approval  filled  the  room,  and  the  most  aged 
of  the  older  men  arising,  and  speaking  in  Mar- 
tian, translated  to  me  by  the  scribe,  said : 

"  'My  friend,  you  have  delighted  us.  The 
time  is  approaching  when  we  can,  I  trust,  re- 
ceive such  visitors  from  all  the  worlds,  and 
gradually  bring  it  to  pass  that  the  visible  uni- 
verse may  be  bound  together  through  the  pow- 
er and  sympathy  of  language.  The  Council 
desires  that  at  present  you  refrain  from  send- 
ing your  second  message  until  you  have  visited 
Scandor,  and  seen  something  of  this  new 
world  upon  which  you  have  so  auspiciously 
alighted. 

"  'Heroma  (Sir,  Sire,  etc.,  etc.),  Chapman 
will  accompany  you.  The  government  at  Scan- 
dor  should  be'  apprized  of  certain  strange  ce- 
lestial conditions,  and  we  are  in  receipt  of  news 
that  at  Scandor  also  unusual  things  are  hap- 
pening. While  all  we  know  or  have  observed 
could  be  transmitted  to  Scandor,  and  all  their 
own  knowledge  in  turn  sent  to  us  by  wireless 
telegraphy,  for  reasons  which  we  are  not  at 
liberty  to  explain  at  present,  it  has  been 
thought  best  to  send  the  approved  diary  of  the 
Patenta  to  the  government,  and  also  learn  in 
return,    by   word   of    mouth,    what   has   tran- 


150 


spired  at  our  capital.  It  will  afford  you  some 
opportunity  to  visit  the  Martian  Mountains, 
and  be  more  informed  for  the  second  message 
you  are  expected  to  transmit  to  the  Earth 
when  you  return.' 

"After  a  few  salutations,  in  which  interview 
I  found  myself  face  to  face  with  the  reincar- 
nated forms  of  some  of  the  greatest  scientific 
thinkers  who  have  lived  upon  our  globe,  I  left 
the  Council  Chamber  with  my  friend  and 
Chapman,  to  prepare  for  our  coming  journey. 
It  was  then  that  I  entered  more  deeply  the 
City  of  Light,  and  saw  the  unspeakable  splen- 
dor of  the  Garden  of  the  Fountains. 

"The  Garden  of  the  Fountains  lies  over  to- 
ward the  great  Halls  of  Philosophy,  Design 
and  Invention,  whose  domes  and  temple- 
pointed  roofs  of  copper  and  blue  metal  I  could 
easily  discern.  It  covers  over  half  a  square 
mile  of  space.  It  is  supplied  with  water  from 
an  enormous  lake  resting  in  the  hollow  of  an 
extinct  volcano,  fifty  miles  to  the  east  of  the 
City  of  Light,  at  an  elevation  of  5,000  feet. 
A  great  conduit  or  water  main,  as  we  would 
say,  conveys  the  water  to  the  garden.  The 
Garden  is  built  actually  upon  piers  of  con- 
crete and  stone,  connected  by  arches  of  brick, 
and  through  the  subterranean  chambers,  thus 
formed,  the  division  of  the  streams  is  made, 
and    there    controlled.      The    whole    was    de- 


151 


signed  by  the  great  Martian  artist,  Hinudi, 
whom  some  aver  is  the  reincarnated  Leonardo 
da  Vinci  of  our  Earth. 

"The  Garden  is  approached  through  a  laby- 
rinthine avenue  made  up  of  Palms,  which  on 
that  side  of  the  City  seem  to  be  plentiful,  and 
over  these  palms  in  extraordinary  profusion 
the  vines  of  the  red  flowered  honeysuckle. 
You  cannot  see  beyond  the  wall  of  green  on 
either  side  in  this  winding  way,  and  only  as 
you  gaze  upward  does  the  eye  escape  the  im- 
prisonment of  its  surroundings,  where  above 
the  waving  summits  of  the  palms  you  see  a 
lane  of  the  bluest  sky. 

"As  you  draw  near  the  debouchment  (into 
the  garden)  of  this  oscillating  road,  the  splash 
and  roar  of  falling  waters  invades  your  re- 
treat. And  then  suddenly  as  if  a  curtain  had 
arisen  or  dropped  to  the  earth  you  emerge 
upon  a  great  marble  terrace  of  steps,  and  be- 
fore you  is  spread  a  forest  of  geysers  dis- 
tributed in  entrancing  vistas  in  a  lake  of 
tumbling  and  scintillating  waters.  The  scene 
is  amazing  and  transporting.  Rushing  jets  of 
water  are  enclosed  in  hollow  pillars  of  glass, 
whose  lines  are  ravishingly  combined  in  the 
separate  clusters  of  fountains. 

"The  heights  of  these  fountains  vary  from 
150  to  200  feet,  and  they  are  arranged  in  a 
peculiar    disorder,    which,    however,    conforms 


152 


to  an  elaborate  plan.  The  water  rises  in  these 
colored  tubes  in  green  columns,  then  breaks 
into  sheets  and  bubble-laden  cataracts  of  spray 
above  them,  pouring  far  outward  like  blazing 
showers  of  little  lamps  in  the  full  sunlight. 
Many  of  the  tubes  are  inclined,  and  the  ejected 
shafts  of  water  collide  above  them,  producing 
explosive  clouds  of  shattered  vesicles  of  moist- 
ure that  float  off  or  drop  in  miniature  rains 
over  the  lake.  This  wildness  of  fountains  ex- 
tends over  many  a  mile.  All  the  jets  are  not 
in  tubes.  Many  uncovered  fountains  are  inter- 
jected amongst  the  glass  pillars. 

"The  pillars  vary  in  form,  and  have  much 
diversity  of  aperture,  so  that  the  water  shoots 
from  them  in  every  posture  and  form.  It 
makes  a  bewildering  picture.  The  exposure 
of  water  in  the  great  lake  or  pond  which  holds 
these  fountains  is  broken  with  waves,  and  the 
tempestuous  scene  with  the  constant  excite- 
ment of  the  rising  and  flowing  avalanches  of 
water  creates  feelings  of  abounding  wonder. 
The  marble  steps  extend  around  the  lake,  and 
behind  them  on  all  sides  rises  the  wall  of  the 
palms,  beaten  into  motion  by  the  wind  blow- 
ing ceaselessly.  The  esplanade-like  margin 
between  the  top  step  and  the  palm  enclosure 
accommodated  great  numbers,  while  the 
benches  in  retreating  alcoves,  were  also  filled. 

"It  was  a  varied,  exhilarating  scene.     The 


i53 


moving  throngs,  the  wonderful  confusion  of 
the  spouting  fountains  in  their  chrysalids  of 
glass  against  the  sky  line,  the  perpetually 
waving  fronds  of  the  palms ! 

"We  hurried  to  the  pier  of  the  Registeries 
after  Chapman  had  secured  the  sealed  envel- 
ope, in  which  were  placed  the  communica- 
tions to  the  government  at  Scandor.  The 
canal  which  enters  the  City  of  Light  at  this 
point  is  divided  into  a  number  of  branches 
whose  confluent  arms,  about  a  mile  from  the 
City,  unite  into  two  parallel  canals  whose 
course  we  were  now  to  follow  to  the  City  of 
Scandor.  The  small  boat  we  entered  was  a 
curious  vessel  of  white  porcelain,  broad  and 
short,  with  raised  keel,  prow,  and  expanded 
stern. 

"It  was  moved  by  some  motor,  electric  in 
nature.  A  pilot  took  his  place  at  the  bow, 
and,  under  a  canopy  of  silk,  in  the  light  of  a 
setting  sun,  followed  by  the  music  of  the  City, 
we  passed  away  from  the  City,  which,  even 
as  we  left  it,  slowly,  in  the  descending  dark- 
ness of  the  night,  began  to  kindle  into  light, 
and  send  upward  into  the  velvet  zenith  its 
phosphorescent  glows." 


154 


CHAPTER  V. 

"These  boats  are  not  in  common  use  on  the 
canals.  The  larger  boats,  which  are  more  fre- 
quent, are  made  of  the  blue  metal.  All  the 
boats  are  propelled  by  explosive  engines,  the 
detonating  force  being  the  Toto  powder. 
Sails  are  used  infrequently,  and  I  have  seen 
them  on  a  few  lakes.  The  porcelain  boats  are 
curious.  Their  sides,  prows,  poop  and  stern 
are  sometimes  ornamented  by  colored  designs, 
which  are  burnt  in  when  the  boat  is  made. 
For  these  extraordinary  boats  are  made  in 
huge  furnaces  in  one  piece  like  a  pitcher,  vase 
or  bowl.  And  electricity  in  some  way  is  uti- 
lized for  this  purpose.  Their  use  is  limited 
to  government  officers.  The  boat  is  propelled 
by  a  screw  of  blue  metal,  sometimes  of  porce- 
lain ;  they  have  deep  keels  holding  state  rooms 
and  assembly  rooms,  and  their  decks  are  ar- 
ranged in  two  stories  or  tiers,  the  upper  one 
usually  covered  by  an  awning  of  the  pale  Chal- 
chal  silk  in  blue. 

"It    was    afternoon    when    Chapman    and    I, 


155 


fully  equipped  and  provisioned,  moved  off 
from  the  long  granite  pier  at  the  Registeries, 
after  an  affectionate  parting  from  my  guide 
and  friend,  who  returned  sorrowfully  to  re- 
sume his  watch  for  his  son,  whose  coming  to 
Mars  seemed  to  him  so  assured. 

"How  wonderfully  strange  and  exciting  it 
all  seemed !  Down  the  crowded  canal  we 
slowly  moved,  amidst  the  calling  crews,  the 
pleasant  cheers,  and  beckonings  of  sight- 
seers ;  and  back  of  us  rose  on  its  hills  the 
City  of  Light,  that,  as  we  passed  still  fur- 
ther away,  and  watched  it  in  the  fading  sun- 
set, began  to  glow,  and  finally,  to  shine  like 
some  titanic  opal  in  the  velvet  shadows  of  the 
night. 

"These  numerous  arms  of  the  canal  some 
miles  from  the  City  coalesce  and  merge  into 
the  enormous  trunk  canal  that  passes  on  to 
Scandor  through  hills  and  mountains  and  the 
plain  country,  excavated  by  the  wonderful  To- 
to  powder.  This  trunk  canal  is  doubled ;  upon 
one  member,  the  boats  pass  outward  to  Scan- 
dor,  and  on  the  other  the  boats  return. 
Branches  pass  north  and  south  at  centers  of 
population,  and  of  some  of  these  which  pass 
actually  into  the  frozen  depths  of  the  polar 
countries,  I  may  tell  you  later. 

"As  we  slowly  progressed  into  the  undu- 
lating plain  country,  with  its  villages  and  farm 


156 


lands,  diversified  by  woods,  and  sometimes 
solitary  projections  of  rock,  as  the  stars  stole 
urgently  into  the  sky,  as  the  phosphori  lamps 
began  their  soft  illumination  of  the  decks,  and 
while  murmurs  of  songs  from  merrymakers  on 
the  land  came  to  us  in  snatches  bewitchingly, 
though  incongruously  mingled  with  the  de- 
licious odors  of  the  Napi  grass,  I  turned  to 
Chapman,  and  felt  that  now,  throughout  the 
hours  of  the  genial  night,  I  would  pour  out 
unchecked  the  flood  of  inquiry  that  had  risen 
again  and  again  to  my  lips  in  this  strange  new 
life. 

"  'Chapman,'  I  began,  'you  must  feel  that 
I  have  a  great  deal  to  ask  you.  This  new  life, 
with  its  surprises  and  the  strange  incidents  of 
the  two  or  three  days  I  have  already  lived 
here  have  suggested  so  many  questions,  can 
we  not  now  talk  about  these  marvels?' 

"  'Certainly,'  replied  Chapman,  as  he  lifted  a 
glass  of  delicate  pearl  pink,  filled  with  the 
pungent  and  keenly  stimulating  Ridinda,  to 
his  lips.  "Put  on  your  thinking  cap,  and  per- 
forate me  with  all  the  puzzles  you  can  think 
of.  I  am  a  trifle  rattled  myself  in  this  new 
ranch — have  not  been  here  long — but  I  tell 
you,  Dodd,  Mars  is  first  class.  It  suits  me. 
Never  enjoyed  living  so  much,  never  found  it 
so  much  a  matter  of  course,  and  as  to  liveli- 
hood, when  I  think  of  those  freezing  nights  on 


157 


the  earth  in  Rutherford's  cheesebox  shooting 
at  the  moon  with  wet  plates,  I  can  tell  you  this 
sort  of  thing  isn't  a  long  call  from  all  I  ever 
hoped  to  find  in  Heaven.  Open  your  batteries. 
To-morrow  will  be  full  of  sight-seeing,  and  I 
guess  you  will  forget  all  you  want  to  know 
to-day  in  trying  to  remember  what  you  will 
see  then.'  He  took  another  sip  of  the  snap- 
ping liquid,  drew  his  chair  closer  to  my  own, 
and  while  a  sort  of  musical  echo  lingered  in 
the  air,  I  began : 

"'Chapman,  where  on  Mars  are  we?  I 
seem  to  feel  neither  heat  nor  cold.  I  see  these 
flowers,  the  palms  in  the  Garden  of  the  Foun- 
tains, day  passes  into  night,  and  there  is  no 
very  apparent  change  of  temperature,  so  far 
as  feeling  goes.  What  are  we  made  of?  Is 
this  new  body  we  carry  insensible  to  heat  or 
cold?  I  feel  indeed  my  pulse  beat.  I  am  con- 
scious of  warmth  in  the  sun,  and  of  coolness 
in  the  shade.  I  feel  the  wind  blow  on  my 
cheeks,  but  all  these  sensations  are  so  much 
less  keen  than  on  the  earth,  and  yet  again  I 
realize  that  sensations  are  in  some  ways  as 
vivid  as  on  the  earth.  The  pleasure  of  my 
ears  and  eyes  is  wonderfully  deep  and  ex- 
haustive, the  sense  of  taste  rapid  and  de- 
lightful. I  am  happy,  supremely  happy,  and 
affection,  even  the  hidden  fires  of  love,  burn  in 
my  veins  as  on  the  earth.' 


158 

"Chapman  looked  at  me  with  that  bright 
smile  he  wore  on  earth,  and  his  gestures  of  ex- 
postulation were  amusing.  'Wait,  Dodd,  don't 
talk  so  fast.  You  remember  I  had  a  slow 
way  on  the  earth.  I  have  no  reason  to  think 
it  will  prove  any  less  pleasant  to  stay  slow  on 
Mars.  One  thing  at  a  time.  My  own  sense 
of  position  is  not  so  secure  that  I  can  tell  ex- 
actly all  you  want  to  know,  and  there  are  a 
gcod  many  things  that  the"  heavyweights  up 
here  don't  pretend  yet  to  explain.  Now,  where 
are  we?  Well,  the  City  of  Light  is  about  40  de- 
grees south  of  the  Martian  equator,  not  so 
far  from  what  on  earth  would  be  the"  position 
of  Christ  Church,  where  you  "shuffled  off  the 
mortal  coil."  Don't  frown.  Mars  is  a  se- 
rene, sweet  place,  but  I  am  not  yet  so  intimi- 
dated by  the  lofty  life  here  as  to  drop  my 
jokes.  Some  Martians  strike"  me  as  a  trifle 
heavy  in  style,  just  a  suggestion  of  a  kind  of 
sublimated  Bostonese  about  them,  don't  you 
know.  Curious  !  However,  the  ordinary  Mar- 
tian is  gamy,  good  company,  full  of  happi- 
ness, with  a  considerable  fancy  for  jokes,  ab- 
surdly addicted  to  music,  and  as  credulous  as 
a  child.  Somehow,  Dodd,  a  good  deal  of  my 
earthly  nature  has  stuck  to  me,  and  I  revel  in 
a  dual  life.  I  have  my  Martian  side,  but  I 
can't,  and  this  life  can't,  knock  the  old  foibles 
of  the  world  you  left,  out  of  me  yet.     I  may 


159 


get  the  proper  sort  of  exultation  in  time,  but 
just  now  I've  imported  considerable  human 
horse  sense.' 

"He  looked  at  me  whimsically;  I  walked 
away,  and  watched  the  receding  city. 

"The  motion  of  our  white  boat  was  so 
smoothly  rapid,  that  soon,  and  almost  unno- 
ticed we  had  threaded  all  the  many  lanes, 
windings,  and  locks  that  led  to  the  broad 
canals  some  twenty  miles  from  the  city.  We 
had  passed  laden  barges,  flat  and  storied  boats 
carrying  excursions  or  freight,  and  trains  of 
smaller  craft  crowded  with  fruit  brought  in 
from  distant  farms  for  the  great  population  of 
the  City  of  Light.  The  scene  assumed  a  fairy- 
like unreality  as  night  settled  down,  and  the 
boats  swarming  with  light,  or  else  carrying  a 
few  red  lanterns,  passed  us  while  their  occu- 
pants or  owners  chanted  the  lonely  lullaby  of 
the  Martians,  which  begins :  'Ana  cal  tantil  to 
ti.' 

"It  was  yet  to  me  all  a  wonderful  dream, 
from  which  each  moment  I  dreaded  awaken- 
ing.    It  was  all  so  beautiful ! 

"I  sat  again  with  Chapman  under  the  can- 
opy, talking  of  the  earth.  Strange  Mystery ! 
Here  we  were  with  our  earth  memories  yet 
vivid,  recalling  incidents  of  life  in  New  York 
City,  and  summoning  amid  all  the  appealing 
charm  of  this  strange  new  life,  the  little,  sor- 


160 


did  variances  and  trials,  vexations  and  minor 
sufferings  that  had  marred  his  own  life  on 
earth.  We  turned  to  these  things,  not  be- 
cause they  were  grateful  or  pleasing  to  remem- 
ber, but  because  it  seemed  to  establish  us,  or 
rather  me,  to  give  me  identity,  and  build  up 
the  growing  certainty  that  I  had  come  from 
the  earth,  and  was  re-embodied  in  this  new 
sphere  of  active  feeling  and  experience. 

"I  told  him  of  you,  of  the  death  of  your 
mother,  of  our  flight  to  New  Zealand,  our  ex- 
periments, the  Dodans,  and  then  turning  to 
him,  as  we  saw  the  Martian  moon  rise  in  rud- 
dy fullness  far  away  over  the  hill  of  Tiniti,  I 
said,  searchingly :  'Chapman,  you  remember 
Martha?  How  beautiful  and  good  she  was! 
I  have  kept  one  long,  sad,  and  still  deathless 
hope  in  my  repining  heart.  I  shall  see  her 
again !  It  must  be !  I  have  felt  so  certain  of 
this  that  no  argument,  no  appeal  to  reason,  can 
drive  away  the  keen  sense  of  its  realization. 
Have  you  seen  her  on  Mars  amongst  the 
thousands  you  have  met,  and  is  there  on  this 
entrancing  orb  any  other  place  than  the  Hill  of 
the  Phosphori,  for  the  disembodied  of  other 
worlds  to   enter  this  new   world? 

"Chapman  smiled.  'Yes,'  he  answered,  'I 
remember  your  wife  very  well.  I  could  pick 
her  out  from  ten  thousand,  but  I  have  never 
seen  her  yet  in  the  City  of  Light.     You  may, 


T61 


my  dear  friend,  cherish  only  an  illusion,  and 
yet  I  am  half  willing  to  agree  with  you;  such 
intuitive  feelings  have  a  deeper  philosophy  of 
truth  than  we  can  fathom,  and  no  laughing 
skepticism,  no  mere  frivolous  doubt  can  ex- 
pel them.  Wait,  my  friend ;  it  may  yet  be 
meant  for  you  to  meet  her.  And  now  I  do  re- 
call some  accounts  told  me  of  occasional  vis- 
itants to  Mars  entering  its  life  at  different 
points ;  many  indeed  have  been  received  near 
Scandor,  and  on  one  or  two  occasions  the 
prehistoric  peoples,  the'  little  strong  men  of  the 
mountains  and  the  northern  ice  have  brought  in 
such  a  chance  waif  that  has  become  body 
amongst  them.  How  wild  and  frightened  they 
become!  And  quite  naturally!  Ghosts  drop- 
ping out  of  the  air  becoming  flesh  and  blood 
might  startle  a  rational  being  into  a  rigid 
course  of  religious  practices,  not  to  say  super- 
stition. But  look,  how  fair  the  night  has  be- 
come.' 

"The  landscape  about  us  was  wonderfully 
illuminated  by  the  two  satellites,  Deimos  and 
Phobos,  which,  as  you  well  know,  were  made 
known  to  astronomers  on  the  earth  by  Prof. 
Asaph  Hall  in  1877.  What  a  marvellous  spec- 
tacle they  presented,  moving  almost  sensibly 
at  their  differing  rates  of  revolution  through 
a  sky  sown  with  stellar  lights.  The  combined 
lights  of  these  singular  bodies  surpassed  the 


162 


light  of  our  terrestrial  moon,  by  reason  of 
their  closeness  to  the  surface  of  Mars,  while 
the  more  rapid  motion  of  the  inner  satellite 
causes  the  most  weird  and  beautiful  changes 
of  effect  in  the  nocturnal  glory  they  both 
lend  to  the  Martian  life. 

"We  were  sailing  in  a  broad  river-like  canal, 
perhaps  one  mile  or  more  wide.  On  all  sides 
the  undulating  ground,  covered  with  cultiva- 
tion, varied  with  thick  patches  of  trees,  with 
here  and  there  shining  lights  from  villages 
and  isolated  homes,  carried  the  eye  onward 
to  a  rising  hill  country,  beyond  which,  again, 
silhouetted  against  the  shining  sky  where 
Phobos  began  to  rise  mountain  tops  were  just 
discernible. 

Deimos,  the  outer  moon,  was  already  shin- 
ing, and  its  pale,  sick  light  imparted  a  peculiar 
blueness  impossible  to  describe  upon  all  sur- 
faces it  touched.  Here  was  the  phenomenon 
we  witnessed  with  increasing  pleasure. 
Phobos  was  emerging  from  a  cloud  and  its 
yellow  rays  possessing  a  greater  illuminating 
power,  mingled  suddenly  with  the  blue 
and  spectral  beams  of  Deimos  and  the  land 
thus  visited  by  the  complimentary  flood  of 
light  from  these  twin  luminaries  seemed  sud- 
denly dipped  in  silver.  A  beautiful  white  light, 
most  unreal,  as  you  mortals  might  say,  fell  on 
tree  and  water,  cliff,  hill,  and  villages.    The  ef- 


163 


feet  was  not  unlike  that  instant  in  photography 
when  a  developing  plate  shows  the  outlines  of 
its  objects  in  dazzling  silver  before  the  half 
tints  are  added,  and  the  image  fades  away  into 
indistinguishable   shadow. 

"It  was  a  print  in  silver,  and  while  we  gazed 
in  mute  astonishment  the  sharp  shadows 
changed  their  position  as  Phobos,  racing 
through  the  zenith,  changed  the  inclination 
of  its  incident  beams.  The  effect  was  inde- 
scribable. I  walked  the  deck  in  an  agitation 
of  wonder  and  delight.  Chapman,  to  whom 
the  novelties  of  this  Martian  life  were  still 
wonderful,  followed  me,  and  was  the  first  to 
speak. 

"  'Dodd,  you  know  that  the  strangest  thing 
about  this  whole  place  is  your  body.  It's 
body  all  right  enough,  but  I  can't  quite  under- 
stand what  sort  of  a  body  it  is.  It  hurts  in  a 
way,  and  is  pleased  in  a  way,  but  it  seems  a 
better  made  affair  in  texture  and  parts  than 
anything  we  possessed  on  earth.  Exertion  is 
so  easy.' 

"  'Well,  Chapman,'  I  answered,  while  my 
eyes  rested  on  the  water,  through  which  an 
approaching  barge  rose  like  a  vessel  of 
frosted  or  burnished  white  metal,  'we  were 
taught  on  the  earth  that,  with  gravitation  re- 
duced one-half,  the  same  weight  on  Mars 
would  seem  only  half  as  heavy  as  on  the  earth, 


164 


and  that  the  effort  which  there  carried  us  eight 
feet  would  here  send  us  sixteen.' 

"  'It  is  true/  returned  Chapman,  'but  that 
doesn't  explain  everything.  We  sleep  less 
here,  we  scarcely  touch  meat,  and  yet  ex- 
ertion, prolonged  by  hours,  scarcely  accelerates 
the  blood  or  vexes  the  nerves,  and  generally 
we  don't  grow  old.  Our  bodies  are  light ;  the 
texture,  apparently  firm  and  resisting,  is  some- 
how diaphanous.  I've  seen  the  light  through 
the  palm  of  my  hand.  And  then  again  I 
haven't.  Somehow  mind  works  in  the  body 
here  and  changes  it,  and  changes  it  different 
at  different  times.  Why,  Dodd,  the  other  day 
at  the  Patenta,  a  student  jumped  up  with  a 
cry  of  delight  at  something,  and  stumbled  and 
fell  from  a  window  to  the  ground,  but  he  stood 
up  without  a  bruise  or  hurt  of  any  kind.  His 
exultation,  his  emotional  excitement  made  him 
buoyant,  I  think,  and  he  fell  to  the  earth  like 
a  thistledown.     There  was  no  concussion.' 

"  'Well,'  I  responded,  'I  cannot  tell.  I  know 
very  little  as  yet.  I  feel  wonderfully  active  and 
vitalized.  My  senses  are  acute.  I  see  fur- 
ther, hear  further,  smell  further  than  I  ever 
did  on  earth,  and  it  even  seems  to  me  I  can 
anticipate  things.  The  nerve  currents  are  so 
rapid,  the  mind  seems  so  persuasive,  that  com- 
ing events  are  registered  by  a  prophetic  feeling 
I    can    scarcely    describe.      For    that    reason, 


165 


Chapman,  I  grow  happier  every  minute,  for 
now  I  see  approaching  that  great  joy,  my  re- 
union with  Martha,  the  one  great  divine  event 
I  hunger  and  hope  for. 

"  'Well,'  said  Chapman,  as  a  cloud  covered 
the  scudding  moons,  'I  do  hope  you  may  see 
her,  and  somehow  I  think,  too,  you  will.  But, 
Dodd,'  the  moons  emerged,  and  the  lower  one 
was  in  transit  across  the  face  of  the  upper, 
'I  must  call  your  attention  to  this  strange 
peculiarity  of  our  bodies,  that  we"  undergo  ex- 
tremes of  temperature  with  almost  no  no- 
ticeable sense  of  the  great  heat  or  cold.  This 
region  we  are  traversing  is  about  the  latitude 
of  Christ  Church,  as  I  told  you,  and  it  is  the 
period  of  harvests,  and  the  heat  is  moderate, 
but  in  the  height  of  summer  the  heat  seems 
scarcely  more  felt  than  now,  and  in  the  cloth- 
ing I  am  now  wearing,  I  have  sailed  through 
the  ice  packs  of  the  North,  and  slept  thinly 
covered  in  its  snows,  but  without  undue  dis- 
comfort. I  tell  you,  matter  in  us,  and  flesh 
and  blood  in  us  are  all  differently  conditioned.' 

"  'Why  not  ask  these  questions  of  the  wise 
men  of  the  Patenta,  the  doctors  and  chemists?' 
I  replied.  'I  can  think  of  an  analogy  that 
might  make  this  Martian  constitution  intelligi- 
ble. A  close,  dense  body  conducts  heat  or  cold ; 
a  loose,  open  texture  or  cellular  mass  does  not. 
In    our   curious    embodiment    from    spirit    the 


166 


substance  of  our  bodies  is  an  etherealized  mat- 
ter, loosely,  I  might  say,  flocculently,  disposed, 
and  while  it  conveys  sensations  of  a  certain 
tone  or  key  of  vibratory  intensity,  it  will  not 
respond  to  any  violent  or  coarse  shocks.  They 
simply  cannot  be  carried.  They  escape  us. 
Are  the  people  all  alike  amongst  the  Mar- 
tians?' 

"  'Oh,  no,'  returned  Chapman,  who  pointed  to 
the  widening  spaces  in  the  beams  between  the 
slow  Deimos  and  the  fleeter  flying  Phobos, 
'there  are  great  differences.  I  have  seen  that. 
In  materialization  some  seem  badly  put  to- 
gether, and  these  resemble  our  former  terres- 
trial bodies.  They  grow  old,  they  succumb  to 
disease,  they  feel  changes  of  weather  and 
they  have  less  vitality.  Yes,'  and  he  drew 
nearer,  'it  is  these  unhappy  misbirths  in  this 
spirit  land  who  retain  the  sin  of  earth  and  can- 
not survive  and  get  the  Kinkotantitomi  or  ir- 
reverently, as  the  earthling  would  say,  the 
grand  bounce.    They  are  fired  off  the  planet.' 

"He  paused  and  laughed.  How  strange  this 
almost  human  laugh  sounded,  and  yet  how 
pleasant !  I  looked  at  him  with  a  deep  affec- 
tion. He  noticed  the  impression,  and  quickly 
drawing  me  to  him,  said  half  timidly: 

"  'Dodd,  that  sort  of  laugh  and  those  words 
of  mine"  just  used,  are  not  Martian,  they  don't 
belong  to   these    rarefied   beings   here.     They 


167 


have  a  human  or  earthly  taint,  and  they  fright- 
en me.  I  seem  so  lonely  sometimes.  My 
stray  fun  which  I  once  enjoyed  on  earth  must 
somehow  be  forgotten  here.  I  feel  so  irrev- 
erent at  times,  so  full  of  horse  play,  but  I 
must  keep  up  the  high  key  and  act  like  the 
rest.  Indeed  for  the  most  of  the  time  I  feel 
as  they  do,  I  suppose,  but  sometimes  that  sort 
of  ribaldry  and  feelings  of  the  ludicrous  that 
made  us  joke,  and  prank,  and  cut  up  in  genial 
companionships  come  over  me,  and  I  am  suf- 
focating with  a  glee  out  of  place  to  this  ex- 
alted society.  Ah !  it's  good  to  feel  you,  my 
friend,  so  fresh  and  new  from  earth.  It's 
promised  here  in  the  learned  talk  I  have  heard, 
that  those  who  disappear  from  Mars  become 
reincorporated  upon  earth  again,  if  they  belong 
there.  Well,  I  wouldn't  mind  if  I  got  returned, 
wonderful  and  sweet  and  happy  as  all  this 
seems.    The  dear,  dear  old  Earth !' 

"He  flung  his  arms  around  me,  and  our 
faces  met,  as  if  we  had  been  lost  brothers.  A 
sort  of  terrifying  melancholy  invaded  me.  I 
was  so  distant  from  all  I  had  known  and 
loved,  so  distant  from  the  surges  we  had 
watched  from  our  observatory  at  Christ 
Church,  so  distant  from  the  life  of  heat  and 
clothing  and  genial  domesticities ;  the  life  even, 
it  might  be  called,  of  the  daily  paper,  the  novel, 
the  new  book,  the  life  of  politics  and  human 


168 


history,  and  conventionality,  the  life  of  ups  and 
downs,  of  sickness  and  health,  of  individual 
enterprise,  of  routine  and  mechanical  fatigue, 
the  life  of  exertion,  contrast  and  social  in- 
equality, with  its  picturesqueness,  its  inces- 
sant interest,  all  this  was  now  utterly  removed 
by  all  the  measureless  leagues  of  icy  space  be- 
tween me  and  the  floating  planet — the  old  sin- 
stricken  Earth — that  was  shining  in  the  Mar- 
tian skies,  so  inconspicuous  and  tiny — so  in- 
accessible. 

"But  my  heart  was  pulsating  audibly.  If  I 
could  recover  Martha,  if,  in  this  serene  at- 
mosphere of  good  will  and  fairness  and  kind- 
ness, in  the  midst  of  unknown  possibilities  of 
knowledge,  in  the  company  of  enthusiastic  and 
high-minded  men  and  women,  in  this  arena  of 
scientific  wonders,  and  in  the  joy  and  beauty 
of  universal  happiness  and  thrift  and  peace 
and  well  doing  and  intuition,  I  could  find  a 
human  companionship  in  the  woman  whose 
face  and  nature  have  summed  up  for  me  the 
whole  of  life,  if  I  could  find  her!  then,  in- 
deed, this  new  world  would  be  all  my  earth- 
ly home  could  be,  and  the  endless  future  with 
her  for  guide  and  friend  would  lose  its  terror 
and  lonely  isolation,  and — I  dared  to  think  it 
— even  the  presence  of  God  himself  become 
bearable. 

"Chapman  had  stolen  away  from  me.     He 


169 


had  stolen  to  the  little,  dainty  rooms  that  were 
sunk  in  the  cockpit  or  cabin  of  our  boat,  and 
I  was  standing  alone  in  the  light  of  the  mid- 
night moons  in  Mars,  a  waif  from  the  far 
earth,  incomprehensibly  born  after  death  in- 
to this  human  presentiment  and  renewal  in 
youth,  and  again  instinct  with  revivified  pas- 
sion and  desire ;  and  breathing  the  atmos- 
phere of  a  planet  that  for  years  I  had  watched 
through  the  tube  of  a  telescope,  as  a  float- 
ing flake  of  celestial  fire.  A  delicious  drowsi- 
ness overcame  me,  and  while  I  noticed  the 
pilot  was  changed,  his  place  being  taken  by 
another,  and  that  we  were  approaching  a  ridgy 
or  disturbed  country,  I  found  my  way  to  the 
white  couch  prepared  for  me,  and  sank  into  a 
deep  and  dreamless  sleep. 

"The  morning  of  the  next  day  was  clear  and 
beautiful.  Shall  I  ever  forget  that  first  ap- 
proach to  the  mountains  of  Tiniti,  where  Mit 
and  Sinsi,  the  villages  of  the  quarries,  are  lo- 
cated. All  day  long  the  boat  propelled 
through  a  diversified  country,  covered  with 
morainal  heaps — great  hills  of  drift  matter, 
heaps  of  worn  pebbles  and  rolling  plains  of 
estuarine  sediment.  Much  of  this  land  seemed 
untouched  with  cultivation,  and  sublime  for- 
ests of  the  loftiest  trees  covered  it.  The  canal 
passed  through  solitudes,  where  the  silence 
was  only  broken  by  the  cackling  laugh  of  a 


170 


crane-like  bird,  marching  in  lines  along  the 
banks,  or  perched  like  sleepy  sentinels  amid 
the  outstretched  branches  of  the*  trees. 

"These  wild  and  fascinating  regions  were 
often  alternated  by  miles  of  bright  plantations 
radiant  with  the  yellow  leaves  of  the  Rint, 
bearing  its  deep  red  pods,  while  avenues  of 
palms,  not  unlike  the  royal  palm  of  the  Earth, 
led  in  long  vistas  to  clustering  groups  of 
houses,  and  we,  too,  caught  glimpses  of  bask- 
ing lakes  on  which,  even  as  in  the  Earth,  the 
patient  fisherman  in  basket-like  circular  boats, 
waited  for  his  flashing  captives. 

"Then,  again,  there  were  prairie-like  stretches 
of  a  sort  of  pampas  waving  in  cloudy  lines, 
the  glistening  pappus  of  the  wild  Nitoti,  a  pe- 
culiar, low  composite,  that  grows  in  abundance 
and  furnishes  food  to  the  strange  gazelle  of 
this  latitude  in  Mars. 

"This  animal,  the  Rimondi,  could  be  seen  in 
scampering  herds  over  these  plains,  its  horns 
making  an  hour  glass  form  above  its  head, 
as  they  bent  to  each  other,  touched,  and  then 
curved  outward  again  to  reunite  a  second  time. 

"We  were  rapidly  moving  northward,  and 
just  as  it  would  be  on  the  earth,  the  changing 
vegetation  gave  visible  notice  of  our  advance. 

"But  more  interesting  than  nature  were  the 

scenes  of  life  along  our  way,  and  the  custom  of 

public  worship  filled  me  with  wonder.     Am 


.  171 

phitheatres  of  stone  built  high  above  the 
ground,  and  approached  by  encircling  terraces 
of  steps  dotted  the  country  at  long  intervals. 
These,  Chapman  explained,  were  the  churches 
of  the  people.  Here  they  gathered  from  long 
distances  around,  and,  even  as  he  described 
their  meaning,  the  congregations  were  seen  as- 
sembling, while  later  we  heard  the  music 
flung  in  waves  of  sound  from  these  houses  of 
song  and  worship. 

"Chapman  did  not  understand  the  Martian 
faith.  There  seemed  little  to  understand  about 
it.  It  was  one  national  expression  of  the  love 
of  goodness  and  of  beauty,  but  it  was  all  di- 
rected to  a  source  of  infallible  wisdom,  power 
and  justice. 

"Thus  considering  the  country  and  its  cus- 
toms we  fell  again  into  a  long  colloquy : 

"  'Dodd,'  said  Chapman,  musingly,  'we 
should  all  become  as  these  people  about  us, 
and  do  the  same  things,  and  believe  and  act 
as  they  do.  You  will,  but  I  think  I  remain  a 
little  strange.  I  seem  a  spectator  that  a  caprice 
has  cast  upon  this  globe,  and  though  I  live 
here,  I  must  succumb  to  a  certain  alienation,  a 
lack  of  mediation  between  their  life  and  my 
former  existence,  and  because  of  this  subtle 
estrangement,  I  shall  contract  disease,  or  meet 
with  accident,  or  waste  in  age,  while  you  shall 
stay  young,  and  living,  sink  into  the  Martian 


172 


life  and  yield  to  it  a  spiritual,  a  mental  ac- 
quiescence. You  will  become  absorbed,  and, 
with  your  love  realized,  the  whole  rhapsodic 
life  of  this  world  will  mingle  you  forever  in 
its  tide  of  song  and  science  and  labor.' 

"  'Yes,'  I  answered,  'I  am  sure  I  shall.  For 
whatever  period  of  time  I  stay  here,  I  am  one 
with  this  beautiful  and  strange  life.  I  re- 
spond naturally  to  all  this  serenity  and  joy, 
this  precision  of  power  over  inanimate  things ; 
this  flooded  being  and  the  dawning  sense  that 
through  the  stepping  stone  of  Mars,  I  approach 
yet  higher  beatitudes  of  living.  At  least  in 
Mars  the  sordid  taint  of  suffering,  of  igno- 
minious physical  torture  and  privation,  which 
spoiled  the  Earth,  is  almost  unknown.' 

"Chapman  laughed,  and  an  echo  gave  back 
from  some  hillside  its  musical  response.  'Ah, 
it  may  be,  I  know  it  is  true,  and  yet — and  yet — 
the  Earth  possessed  a  pictorial,  a  dramatic 
power  in  its  contrasts  of  happiness  and  suffer- 
ing, of  goodness  and  sin.  It  had  literary  mate- 
rial. Its  consecutive  growth  in  the  ages  of  so- 
cial and  national  and  economic  history  were  so 
wonderful,  so  thrilling  in  interest,  in  the  de- 
tails of  character  and  adventure,  in  the  in- 
cessant panoramic  display  it  gave  of  light  and 
shade.  And  on  it  rested  the  shadow  of  a 
strange,  pathetic  doubt,  the  mystery  of  creation. 
Its  romance,  its  fiction,  its   fable,   and  the  ani- 


173 


mating  picture  it  furnished,  with  its  sceptics 
and  its  believers,  its  haters  and  its  lovers,  its 
tyrants  and  its  heroes.  Its  wide,  verbal  im- 
mensity !  I  miss  all  that,  or  almost  all.  This 
life  is  evenly  celestial,  and  glowing,  and  care- 
lessly happy.  And  here  knowledge  is  extreme 
and  pervasive  and  omnipotent.  The  dear 
commonplaces  of  the  Earth  life  are  unknown 
too,  the  ludicrous  is  absent,  and  the  sublimity 
of  sacrifice  impossible.' 

"He  laughed  again,  and  I  felt  for  one  brief, 
incredible  instant  a  pang,  too,  that  the  blos- 
soming, full,  sensual  Earth  has  passed  from 
beneath  my  feet  forever. 

"But  it  was  past.  For  me  nothing  was  left 
behind  when  Martha  had  gone  before.  The 
future  for  me  was  the  pilgrimage  through 
worlds  for  her  lost  face.  The  sum  and  sub- 
stance of  a  world's  growth,  of  the  unintermit- 
tent  and  heraldic  progress  of  the  soul  was 
union  with  her.  And  deeper  in  my  convictions 
than  science  or  faith  or  desire,  lay  the  con- 
sciousness of  my  sure  approach. 

"Again  the  evening  fell.  We  arrived  at  the 
entrance  of  a  gloomy  and  stupendous  gorge. 
It  was  the  wonderful  passage  driven  through 
the  first  area  of  igneous  rocks  before  we 
reached  the  quarry  country  of  the  Tiniti.  It 
pierced  the  dark  and  stubborn  dike  that  rose 
in  sheer  walls  like  the  Palisades  on  the  Hud- 


174 


son,  1,000  and  1,200  feet  above  our  heads,  and 
it  seemed  that  the  darkening  tide  was  carry- 
ing us  into  the  bowels  of  the  sphere.  As  the 
precipitous  walls  rose  on  either  side,  a  loud 
report,  followed  by  another  more  muffled, 
startled  us.  Looking  upward,  Chapman,  shout- 
ing 'Golki,  tan  to,'  with  outstretched  hand  point- 
ed to  a  flaming  missile  passing  over  our  heads, 
and  apparently  in  the  direction  we  were  head- 
ing. 

"It  was  a  meteor.  It  was  just  such  a  phe- 
nomenon as  we  know  of  on  the  Earth.  I  felt 
certain  that  it  was  a  bolide  from  space,  one  of 
those  fiery  visitors  of  stone  and  iron  that 
collide  occasionally  with  our  Earth,  and  that 
somewhere  before  us,  in  the  country  we  were 
approaching,  it  would  be  found. 

'"Later  a  few  straggling  shooting  stars  ap- 
peared. The  languor  of  fatigue  overcame  me, 
and  I  slept  prostrate  on  the  cushions  of  the 
deck  as  the  murmurous  reverberations  from 
the  walls  of  the  rock-bound  canal  rose  and  fell, 
with  the  cadence  of  the  waves,  splashing 
softly  against  their  feet. 

"I  dreamt  of  the  Earth,  the  pictures  naturally 
recalled,  by  these  surroundings,  of  my  life  on 
the  Hudson  River  in  New  York,  and  it  seemed 
so  real,  that  I  should  find  myself  with  you 
working  away  in  the  old  laboratory  at  Yonkers 
near    the    Albany    Road.      Suddenly    I    was 


175 


shaken,  and  opening  my  eyes  I  beheld  the 
firmament  of  heaven  falling  in  coruscating 
cascades  about  us.  Starting  up,  I  found  my- 
self clutching  Chapman,  who  had  called  to  the 
pilot  to  stop  the  boat.  A  few  of  the  at- 
tendants were  grouped  near  us,  and  the  loud- 
ly suppressed  exclamations  made  me  realize 
that  these  visitations  were  perhaps  infrequent 
upon  Mars. 

"It  was  a  meteoric  shower,  like  our  leonids 
in  November.  It  rained  pellets  or  balls  of  fire, 
these  phosphorescent  trains  gleaming  spectrally, 
while  a  kind  of  half  audible  crackling  accom- 
panied the  fall.  Shooting  in  irregular  shoals 
or  volleys,  they  would  increase  and  diminish, 
and  recurrent  explosions  announced  the  arrival 
at  the  ground  of  some  meteoric  mass. 

"It  was  a  marvellous  and  splendid  scene.  It 
lasted  till  the  dawn.  We  remained  almost 
unchanged  in  position,  while  the  tiny  comets 
crowded  the  sky  with  their  uninterrupted 
march,  and  the  air  was  shot  through  with  in- 
termingled lanes  of  light. 

"As  the  morning  broke,  we  had  passed  the 
great  gorge  in  the  canal,  and  had  entered  a 
wild,  savage,  almost  treeless  country.  Great 
weathered  columns  of  rock  stood  alone  in  the 
debris  of  their  own  dismemberment,  the  bare 
gray  or  rusty  and  jagged  expanses  sloping  up 
steeply  from  the  edge  of  the  canal,  sparingly 


176 


dotted  over  with  gray  bushes,  and  covered  with 
an  ashen  colored  lichen. 

"The  scene  was  here  forbidding  and  deso- 
late. We  moved  for  miles  through  the  waste 
of  a  ruined  world.  The  whole  region  had  been 
the  stage  of  great  volcanic  activity,  and  the 
monticules  of  scoriaceous  rock,  the  broad 
plains  excavated  with  deep  pools  that  reflected 
their  dismal,  untenanted  borders  in  the 
black  depths  of  unruffled  water,  spoke 
of  meteorological  conditions  long  prolonged 
and  intense.  It  was  a  weird,  strange 
place,  silent  and  dead.  But  amongst  these 
vast  ejections,  these  truncated  fossil  craters 
were  embedded  masses  of  the  rare  self-lumi- 
nous stone  that  made  the  City  of  Light.  Chap- 
man told  me  how  in  pockets  or  huge  amygda- 
loidal  cavities,  this  white  phosphorescent  sub- 
stance was  quarried,  brought  up  bodily  per- 
haps in  the  slow  upheaval  of  the  region  from 
the  deep-seated  sources  of  this  mineral  flood. 

"The  canal  passed  along  for  miles  in  the  de- 
pression between  two  folds  of  the  surface. 
Finally,  gazing  ahead,  there  slowly  came  into 
view  a  huge  rictus,  a  gaping  rent  in  the  side 
of  the  black  and  gray  and  red  walls  to  our 
right,  and  a  minute  movement  of  living  forms, 
scarcely  discernible,  revealed  the  first  quarry 
near  the  little  town  of  Sinsi. 

"As  we  drew  nearer  I  descried  a  slant  incline 


177 


from  the  open  excavation  down  which  the 
blocks  of  stone  were  slid.  They  were  brought 
to  the  surface  by  hoisting  cranes,  and  just  as 
our  little  porcelain  cockle-shell  glided  to  the 
dock,  an  enormous  fragment  rudely  shaped  in- 
to a  cubical  form,  was  moving  down  the  metal 
road  bed  to  the  edge  of  the  canal. 

"Here  we  landed,  and  a  crowd  of  people 
hailed  us,  and  amongst  them  were  many  of 
the  prehistoric  people,  the  short,  sturdy  brown 
or  copper  colored  northerners  who  work  in  the 
quarries  and  mines.  It  was  nightfall.  Their 
day's  work  was  over,  and  they  crowded  around 
us  with  interest.  They  were  good-natured,  but 
quiet,  and  dressed  in  a  kind  of  overalls  that 
was  made  in  one  garment  from  head  to  feet. 

"Chapman  pushed  amongst  them,  followed  by 
me.  We  made  our  way  to  a  pleasant  house, 
built  of  the  quarried  volcanic  rock,  alternating 
with  the  white  stone  of  the  quarry,  and  cov- 
ered with  an  almost  flat  roof  of  the  blue  metal. 
In  this  house  we  were  received  by  the  Super- 
intendent of  Quarries,  a  supernatural,  who 
still  retained  a  mechanical  aptitude,  brought 
with  him  from  the  earth.  The  greetings  were 
pleasant,  and  as  the  Superintendent  spoke 
his  former  earth  language,  which  had  been 
French,  we  got  along  intelligibly. 

"The  rooms  of  this  house  were  large,  square 
apartments,   simply   furnished   with   the   white 


178 


chairs,  tables  and  couches  I  had  seen  in  the 
City  of  Light,  but  on  its  walls  were  drawings 
and  photographs  of  the  quarry,  the  country, 
and  groups  of  the  workmen.  Amongst  the 
pictures  were  some  wonderful  large  scenes  of 
an  ice  country,  and  the  lustrous  high  wall  of  a 
gigantic  glacier.  I  pointed  these  out  to  Chap- 
man. He  told  me  that  to  the  north  of  the 
mountains  lay  the  great  northern  sea,  in  win- 
ter a  sea  of  ice,  and  that  from  continental 
elevations  within  it  glacial  masses  pushed  out- 
ward, invading  the  southern  country.  A  road 
led  over  the  mountain  from  Sinsi  to  regions 
beyond,  where  there  were  fertile  intervals  and 
plains  inhabited  by  populations  of  the  small, 
early  people  we  had  met. 

"Here  were  their  settlements,  from  which 
the  workmen  of  the  quarries  had  been  brought. 
Beyond  this  again  lay  the  margins  of  the  polar 
sea.  The  Superintendent — his  name  was  Alca 
— had  visited  this  region,  and  probably  made 
the  pictures  I  wondered  at.  The  Superintend- 
ent said  we  should  visit  the  great  quarry  in 
the  morning  before  we  started  again  for  Scan- 
dor.  And  he  showed  us,  as  the  darkness  de- 
scended about  us,  a  marvellous  phenomenon. 
Standing  on  the  roof  of  his  house,  we  looked 
up  the  mountain  side  to  the  immense  opening 
forced  in  its  flank,  and  it  had  become  a  great 
surface  of  palpitating,  rising  and  falling  light. 


179 


The  waves  of  glorious  soft  radiance  bathed 
the  village  about  us,  the  waters  of  the  canal, 
and  the  arid  crusts  of  rock  beyond,  the  circle 
of  encompassing  darkness  straining  like  a 
great  black  wall,  on  its  spent  edges. 

"Song  and  music  closed  the  day,  and  after 
eating  the  wine-soaked  cakes  of  Pintu,  we 
made  our  way  to  the  white  and  simple  bed- 
chamber and  waited  for  the  morning. 

"It  came,  fresh  and  splendid.  The  air  of 
this  latitude  of  Mars  is  so  pure,  vivid  and  dust- 
less  !  My  strength  and  power  and  vitality 
seemed  boundless.  And  as  in  the  broad  mirror 
of  my  bed-chamber  I  viewed  my  reflection,  I 
leaped  with  wonder  to  see  the  youth  I  had 
been,  formed  anew  in  lineaments,  fairer  than 
Earth's.  My  son,  I  have  become  younger  than 
yourself,  age  has  vanished,  and  all  the  re- 
straint of  differing  years  between  has  van- 
ished with  it. 

"Alca,  Chapman  and  myself,  as  is  the  Mar- 
tian habit,  walked  to  the  quarry  mouth,  up  a 
winding  and  hard  stone  road.  This  dreary  and 
desolate  region  seemed  to  have  a  charm.  Its 
expanse  of  rigid  waves  of  stone,  pimpled  with 
sharp  excrescences,  and  as  deeply  pitted  with 
cavernous  grottoes,  where  no  life  seemed  able 
to  survive,  save  a  stunted  herbage,  sparsely 
assembled  in  vagrant  groups,  or  gathered  in 
thirsty  lines  around  the  lip  of  the  still  pools, 


180 


was  full  of  scenic  interest,  but  more  deeply  elo- 
quent of  great  geological  convulsions. 

"Chapman  and  Alca  were  in  front  of  me, 
speaking  the  Martian  tongue,  while  I  stood 
looking  backward  every  few  steps,  delighted 
to  trace  the  broad  river  of  the  canal  winding 
through  the  desolation  for  miles  beyond. 
Then  I  noticed  how  rapid  and  effortless  is  mo- 
tion in  Mars.  Volition  is  so  easy  and  pene- 
trating, the  body  becomes  a  mere  plaything 
for  the  mind.  Every  function,  every  part  is 
swayed  into  vitality  by  the  mind.  There  is  the 
apparent  motion  of  the  limbs,  but  really  the 
whole  frame  sweeps  on  as  by  an  intangible 
process  of  translation,  and  the  body  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  point  the  mind  desires  it  to 
reach  almost  without  fatigue.  This  gives 
strength  exactly  proportioned  to  Will,  and  the 
shorn  powers  of  disease  and  Time  proceed 
from  the  creative  faculty  of  thought.  The  dis- 
abling of  the  body  in  Mars  by  weakness  or 
disease,  or  accident  or  age,  sprang  from  a 
mental  discord,  an  emotional  dissonance. 
Here  was  the  explanation  of  those  disorders 
that  still  cling  to  the  Martian  life.  In  this  lay 
also  the  secret  of  crime. 

"I  looked  upward  to  Chapman,  who  was  then 
peering  with  hand  raised  to  his  eyes  at  some 
object  before  him  which  the  Superintendent 
had  pointed  out,  and  I  felt  sorrowful  that  he 


181 


should  be  in  disagreement  with  this  life.  It 
boded  ill.  I  had  begun  to  love  Chapman,  and 
the  first  sense  of  suffering  I  had  felt  seemed 
now  awakened  at  the  thought  of  harm  coming 
to  him. 

"But  there  was  no  time  for  meditation. 
Chapman  and  Alca  were  looking  backward  and 
shouting.  They  beckoned  with  their  arms, 
and  as  I  gazed  I  saw  between  them,  and  ahead 
of  them  a  great  black  object,  about  which  a 
number  of  the  little  workmen  were  running 
excitedly  like  a  swarm  of  ants.  I  leaped  to 
their  position.  Chapman  exclaimed :  'You  re- 
member the  meteor  we  saw.    Well,  there  it  is.' 

"Extended  like  a  gigantic  and  deformed  mis- 
sile lay  an  iron  meteorite  before  us,  the  same 
thing  as  the  Siderites  that  appear  in  your  Mu- 
seums on  Earth.  It  was  yet  warm,  a  crevice 
spread  down  into  its  interior,  and  it  had  ap- 
parently rolled  from  the  spot  of  its  first  im- 
pact, since  a  hammered  side,  abraded  and  worn 
on  the  hard  rock,  lay  uppermost.  It  bore  the 
significant  pits,  thumb-marks  and  depressions 
of  the  terrestrial  objects,  while  streaming 
striations  spread  from  its  front  breast  where 
the  iron  in  melting  had  run  like  tears  over  its 
surface.  It  measured  some  four  feet  in  length, 
and  must  have  weighed  many  tons. 

"Then  a  curious  thing  happened,  or  seemed 
to    happen.      Alca,    the     Superintendent,    ad- 


182 


vanced  to  it,  and  bending  against  it  with  out- 
stretched arm,  muttered  a  few  words,  frowned 
as  if  in  concentrated  thought,  and — was  it 
credible — the  iron  object  moved.  I  looked 
aghast  at  Chapman,  who  turned  away  with 
what  I  dismally  interpreted  was  an  expression 
of  disgust.  I  pressed  up  close  to  him,  and  he 
murmured,  'Was  that  a  miracle?  If  it  was 
I  should  like  to  get  back  to  common  sense  and 
jack-screws.' 

"We  continued  upward,  and  now  the  terrific 
gulf  piercing  the  ground  for  over  two  ter- 
restrial miles  yawned  at  our  feet.  The  steep 
precipice,  lost  in  a  twilight  dusk  below,  was 
disconcerting.  The  blocks  of  stone  were 
hoisted  from  the  gigantic  pit  by  hoists  worked 
by  hand.  Here  is  one  of  the  anomalies  of 
this  existence  in  Mars.  Electrical  science  and 
its  application  is  understood,  great  stores  of 
mechanical  experience  and  wisdom  can  be 
drawn  on,  and  yet  in  most  of  the  mechanical 
work,  hand  work,  the  toilsome  method  of  the 
Pharaohs  of  Egypt  prevails.  There  are  no  rail- 
roads or  trolleys  or  steam  vehicles.  The  boats 
are  driven  by  explosive  engines,  and  there  are 
electric  carriages  of  velocity  and  power.  But 
the  latter  are  infrequent.  The  canals  are  nu- 
merous, especially  about  Scandor,  and  the  great 
trunk  canals  are  broad  avenues  of  traffic. 

"The  intense  swift  motion  of  the  Martians 


183 


meets  their  needs  in  most  cases.  Where  hard 
labor  on  a  mammoth  scale  is  necessary,  the 
little  race  of  prehistorics  serves  all  their  pur- 
poses. The  canals  are  their  great  engineering 
feats,  and  the  wonderful  telescopes,  their  tri- 
umphs in  applied  science,  their  knowledge  of 
the  transmutation  of  the  elements, — their 
greatest  intellectual  victory, — and  Scandor,  the 
City  of  Glass,  their  architectural  gem  and 
miracle. 

"We  stood  in  a  line  gazing  upon  the  reced- 
ing roof  of  the  great  cavern,  the  heavy  walls 
left  like  buttresses  to  hold  up  the  overlying 
mountain  ridge,  and  the  tiny  figures  dimly 
swarming  on  the  distant  floor. 

"The  quarry  extends  far  in  under  the  ridge. 
Much  barren  rock  is  taken  out,  for  the  Phos- 
phori  rock  occurs  variously  in  masses,  layers, 
lenticles,  and  almond  shaped  inclusions  in  the 
igneous  matrix. 

"We  were  to  descend,  but  before  we  did  so 
the  Superintendent  led  us  to  the  summit  of  the 
ridge.  From  here,  with  a  superb  hand  tele- 
scope, we  gazed  up  a  distant  land  beyond  the 
volcanic  area  we  had  surmounted,  occupied  by 
farms  and  villages.  It  was  the  North  country 
where  the  prehistorics  dwelt.  It  seemed  peace- 
ful and  attractive.  Beyond  this  again  we  just 
discerned  the  shimmering  surface  of  the  Great 
Glacier,   the   superb   train   of   ice,    that   comes 


184 


southward  in  the  winter,  and  encroaches  even 
upon  some  of  the  exposed  margins  of  the  land 
of  the  prehistorics.  Its  retreat  is  rapid  in  the 
warm  season,  and  its  broad  tract  is  broken  by 
emergent  backs  of  rocks  and  land,  that  are 
seamed  with  wild  flowers.  The  Martians 
travel  to  these  oases  in  the  Ocean  of  Ice,  and 
it  is  from  these  flowers  that  an  entrancing  per- 
fume is  extracted,  of  which  the  Martians  are 
extremely  fond. 

"We  lingered  on  this  pinnacle  of  rock  and 
surveyed  a  prospect  on  either  side  of  con- 
trasted and  great  interest.  The  land  of  the 
Zinipi  north  of  us  resembled  the  fertile  hill 
and  valley  country  of  the  Genesee  River  in 
western  New  York,  the  great  region  south  of 
us  a  combination  of  the  Snake  River  country 
in  Idaho,  and  the  fissured  ranges  of  the  Sil- 
verton  Quadrangle  in  Colorado. 

"Between  these  rose  this  high  partition  of 
castellated  rock. 

"We  descended  again  to  the  mouth  of  the 
quarry,  and,  led  by  the  Superintendent,  were 
swung  far  out  from  its  dizzy  sides  into  the  lake 
of  air  between  them  upon  a  platform,  used  for 
an  aerial  elevator.  Chapman  clung  nervously 
to  me,  and  complained  of  a  light  nausea  and 
dread.  I  felt  only  a  tonic  exhilaration,  and  as 
we  slowly  sank  through  the  shaft  of  air, 
crossed   by    sunlight   for   some   distance,   and 


185 


then  passed  into  the  cooler  shadows  of  its 
deeper  parts,  where  the  yet  level  sun  failed  to 
penetrate,  I  cried  aloud  with  delight,  and  the 
abyss  around  us  shouted  its  salutation  back. 

"Still  we  descended,  and  soon  saw  back  in 
the  deep  prolongations  of  the  tunnel  the  shining 
walls  of  this  phosphorescent  cave.  The  light 
glowed  so  effulgently  that  it  seemed  a  soft  ra- 
diant haze,  through  which  came  the  sound  of 
voices,  and  in  it  black  figures  moved  inces- 
santly. 

"The  method  of  quarrying  is  not  unlike  that 
of  the  marble  quarries  on  the  earth.  Drilling 
long  holes  in  and  under  the  stone,  which  from 
pressure  has  assumed  a  rudely  cubical  cleav- 
age, separates  the  rock  into  heavy  pieces. 
These  holes  are  wedged,  and  the  rocks  forced 
off  into  useful  blocks.  All  is  done  by  hand, 
and  the  picture  of  activity,  with  workers  con- 
stantly engaged  at  their  various  duties  made  a 
singular  scene.  We  walked  far  into  the  ever 
deepening  womb  of  the  mountain,  while  on 
either  hand  lateral  tunnels,  or  rather  avenues 
had  been  pushed,  penetrating  rich  segregations 
wherever  they  had  been  traced,  and  where 
also  glowed  the  welcome  glow  of  this  lithic 
lamp. 

"The  Superintendent  explained  that  the 
stone  was  quite  unequal  in  quality,  and  he  told 
us  how  the  illuminating  power  of  the  stone  was 


186 


actually  tested  in  what  on  the  Earth  we  would 
call  candle  powers,  but  is  known  on  Mars  as 
Ki-kans,  or  a  un^  of  light  derived  from  a  pla- 
tinum wire  one  millimetre  thick,  carrying  ioo 
volts  current.  We  could  see  the  varying  radia- 
tions, and  came  upon  rayless  sections,  which 
from  admixture  of  impurities  or  imperfect 
chemical  perfection,  were  deprived  of  all  lu- 
minousness. 

"Returning,  it  seemed  as  if  in  the  sharp  con- 
vulsions of  the  crust  a  flood  of  light  had  been 
somehow  absorbed  by  the  rock,  and  then  this 
light-saturated  rock  had  been  overwhelmed 
and  buried  out  of  sight,  only  to  be  painfully 
restored  to  its  first  home,  in  the  open  skies, 
by  the  labor  of  men. 

"But  time  was  pressing.  Chapman  must  reach 
Scandor,  his  envoy's  errand  was  important, 
and  bidding  the  kind  Alca  good-bye,  which  the 
Martians  execute  by  a  kiss  and  an  embrace, 
we  came  out  again  into  the  deep  well,  and 
gazed  upward  past  the  glistening  precipices, 
irregular  with  little  ledges,  and  over-reach- 
ing cavities,  to  the  distant  sky. 

"And  now  a  terrible  calamity  befell  us.  The 
Superintendent  pointed  out  a  narrow  path  that 
led  circuitously  around  the  great  crags  of  rock 
to  the  top.  It  was  a  narrow  winding  ledge, 
rising  by  a  mild  incline,  and  circling  the  pit 
before  it  finally  reached  its  brim.     In  parts  it 


187 


was  quite  unprotected,  but  the  extraordinary 
nerves  of  the  men  made  the.  achievement  of 
passing  out  or  in  the  quarry^by  this  means  a 
very  simple  test  of  endurance.  Even  as  the 
Superintendent  alluded  to  its  use,  a  file  of 
dark  figures  was  just  above  us,  with  soldier- 
like precision  marching  down  to  the  level  we 
occupied.  Chapman  banteringly  asked  me  to 
try  it,  and  I  accepted  the  challenge,  urging 
him  to  follow. 

"We  started  up.  At  first  the  ascent  was  sim- 
ple, and  the  view  backward  just  a  little  ex- 
citing. We  continued,  and  I  noticed  that 
the  path  contracted,  and  nervously  looking  on 
ahead,  was  startled  to  find  it  broken  with 
short  gaps,  which  must  be  crossed  by  jumping. 
I  had  felt  the  vague  premonitions  about  Chap- 
man increasing,  and  somehow,  by  that  in- 
tuition which  becomes  prophetic,  in  this  semi- 
etherealized  constitution  of  our  bodies  and 
minds,  in  Mars,  I  knew  an  impending  blow 
hung  over  us. 

"I  looked  back  and  saw  Chapman  gravely 
following  me.  The  cheer  and  laughter  had  dis- 
appeared from  his  face,  the  jesting  gayety  had 
fled,  and  he  seemed  enfeebled.  I  hastened 
to  him,  and  he  raised  his  face  with  a  reassur- 
ing smile. 

"  'Dodd,'  he  said,  T  am  dizzy.  I  feel  strange- 
ly here,'  and  he  felt  his  forehead.    'I  wonder 


188 


that  it  is  so.  But  come !  Don't  be  frightened. 
It  will  pass  over.'  He  pushed  me  from  him. 
For  an  instant  we  stood  and  gazed  around  us. 
Far  up  we  saw  the  outer  sunlight  beating  on 
the  barren  exposures  of  the  mountain, 
around  us  was  black  excavated  rock,  and  be- 
low the  shining  walls,   faintly  blue  and  pink. 

"  'Chapman,'  I  said,  'let  us  go  back.  The 
hoists  will  take  us  out.'  'Folly,'  was  the  an- 
swer. 'I  shall  be  all  right.  Why,  a  Martian 
has  no  physical  weakness  or  dread.  Come, 
Dodd,  you  have  not  yet  acquired  the  Martian 
defiance  of  accident,  disease,  or  death.  You 
are  sneaking  back  under  the  cover  of  fear  for 
me.' 

"His  voice  seemed  peevish.  I  looked  at 
him  with  wonder.  He  leaped  past  me,  with  a 
forced  agility,  and  sprang  on  upward.  I  fol- 
lowed with  lightness  born  of  thought,  with 
which  the  true  Martians  move. 

"On,  on,  we  sped.  The  narrowing  path  car- 
ried us  up  until  one  of  those  gaps  I  had  noticed 
came  in  view.  Chapman  stopped,  and  then 
hearing  my  approaching  steps,  ran  forward 
and  jumped.  His  calculation  and  strength 
were  yet  secure  and  adequate.  He  safely 
passed  the  first  break  in  the  pathway,  and,  as 
I  crossed  it  with  a  wide  leap,  we  both  still 
sped  on  upon  an  even  narrower  shelf,  which 


189 


also  was  more  steepily  inclined  about  the  jut- 
ting prominences  of  the  rocky  cliff. 

"The  next  gap  was  reached,  and  now  the 
edge  of  the  succeeding  length  of  pathway  was 
not  only  farther  away,  but  higher  up.  Chap- 
man, I  could  see  imperfectly,  because  of  a  slim 
projection  in  my  way,  had  reached  the  lower 
side,  and,  hesitatingly,  drew  backward.  It  was 
his  preparation  for  the  leap.  He  launched  for- 
ward. I  rushed  precipitately  upward,  feeling 
the  air  about  me  vibrating,  it  seemed,  with  an 
impending  disaster.  Chapman  had  landed  on 
the  further  side  of  the  break,  but  the  cruel, 
treacherous  rock  crumbled  beneath  his  im- 
pact, and  I  saw  his  staggering  form  turning 
backward.  Another  instant  and  his  descend- 
ing body  was  below  me,  plunging  to  the  floor 
of  the  abyss.  I  turned,  and  then,  my  son,  I 
felt  the  marvel  of  the  mind's  creative  power 
over  matter.  I  wished  myself  at  the  bottom  of 
the  quarry  where  Chapman  had  fallen,  and 
although  the  movement  of  the  translation  down 
the  pathway  seemed  apparent,  yet  I  was  scarce- 
ly parted  from  him  an  instant  before  I  was 
standing  and  leaning  over  him  in  a  group  of  as- 
tonished workmen,  at  the  very  spot  where  he 
lay.  He  was  conscious,  but  gravely  injured. 
I  knelt  beside  him,  and  as  I  raised  his  head 
upon    my   knee,    he    looked    up,    and    his   lips 


190 


moved ;  at  first  he  was  inarticulate,  but  soon 
his  words  became  audible  and  intelligent. 

"  'Dodd,'  he  said,  'this  ends  me  for  Mars. 
Take  the  papers  to  the  Council  at  Scandor. 
They  are  in  the  cabin  in  my  desk.  They  are 
sealed.  I  know  there  is  a  celestial  runaway 
that  is  going  to  strike  this  planet.  I  overheard 
that  much  at  the  Patenta.  And  its  direct 
path,  the  point  of  impingement,  will  be  at 
Scandor.  The  fires  ascending  from  Scandor 
are  signals  that  they,  too,  have  divined  the 
disaster.  I  think  so  at  least !  Hurry  on !  You 
may  see  the  strangest  phenomenon  eyes  have 
ever  seen.  But,  Dodd,  enough  of  that.  I  am 
turned  down  for  this  world.  I  was  not  in 
agreement,  as  the  philosophers  call  it,  and  the 
true  mental  Martian  immunity  from  accident 
was  not  in  me.     I  am  injured  mortally.' 

"He  groaned  and  tried  to  rise,  but  his 
crushed  body  was  incapable  The  Superin- 
tendent, Alca,  had  hurried  to  the  spot  where 
the  crowding  men  stood  around  us  ejaculat- 
ing their  amazement.  Alca  tore  open  the  gar- 
ment about  Chapman,  and  placing  his  fore- 
head on  the  body,  poured  out  as  it  were,  the 
full  tide  of  his  mental  sympathy  and  power. 

"I  could  see  the  struggle  between  the  mor- 
tality of  Chapman,  born  of  doubt,  and  his  un- 
fittedness  and  apathy,  and  the  spiritual  power 
of  the   brave   Superintendent.     The   flame   of 


191 


life  in  Chapman  would  be  stimulated  or  ex- 
cited, and  then  flicker  and  die  down.  These 
alterations  lasted  but  a  short  time.  Soon 
Chapman  passed  into  stupor,  and  then  death 
supervened,  and  the  strange  and  seldom  known 
circumstance  of  death  among  the  supematurals 
in  Mars  was  realized. 

"Alca  kept  the  body  of  Chapman,  which 
would  be  sent  back  to  the  City  of  Light,  and 
cremated  in  the  Temple  of  Glorification — which 
I  have  not  seen.  He  intended  to  accompany  it. 
He  sent  me  on  to  Scandor.  I  had  now  learned 
enough  of  the  Martian  language  to  speak,  im- 
perfectly. That  mental  facility,  which  is  the 
amazing  and  most  wonderful  thing  in  Mars, 
was  perhaps  more  slowly  roused  in  me.  But 
daily  I  became  known,  and  more  alert  and 
inflamed  with  thought  and  the  eager  intuition 
of  the  Martians. 

"We  started  from  the  great  Quarry  of  Sin- 
si,  and  I  was  alone  with  the  Martians  on  the 
porcelain  boat,  now  made  by  this  tragic  fate 
the  ambassador  from  the  City  of  Light  to  the 
Council  in  Scandor. 

"The  sterile,  sinister  and  yet  marvellous 
region  of  lava  beds,  dikes  and  conic  craters 
suddenly  was  passed,  and  the  canal  moved  in- 
to the  huge  forest  lands  of  the  Ribi  wood. 

"This  is  a  beautiful  land.  Mountain  ranges 
rising  from  four  to  six  thousand  feet  cross  it, 


192 


holding  broad  valleys  and  plains,  or  elevated 
plateaus  between  them ;  lakes  and  rivers  pass 
through  it,  and  villages  and  towns  with  a 
mixed  population  of  the  supernaturals  and  the 
prehistorics  are  frequent.  The  canals  cross 
the  great  region  in  many  directions.  The 
trunk  line  I  followed  was  carried  up  and  down 
by  systems  of  locks  of  astounding  magnitude 
and  perfection.  Great  lakes  were  made  con- 
venient feeders,  and  rivers  were  also  tapped 
to  keep  the  water  levels  constant  in  the  canals. 
The  weather  was  that  of  a  semi-tropical  para- 
dise, and  the  late  flowers  of  the  Ribi  filled  the 
air  with  fragrance. 

''Quickly  we  approached  Scandor.  It  was  a 
clear,  calm  day  when  we  emerged  from  the 
Ribi  country,  and  the  pilot  pointed  out  to  me 
the  distant  hills,  almost  purple  in  a  twilight 
haze,  which  encircled  the  Valley  of  the  City  of 
Scandor.  The  country  we  had  entered  was  a 
fertile  farm  country,  where  great  plantations 
of  the  Rint,  and  vineyards  of  the  Oma  grapes 
were  established,  and  where  great  flocks  of  the 
Imilta  dove,  almost  the  only  meat  eaten  by 
the  Martians,  are  raised.  The  enormous  flocks 
of  this  snow-white  bird  were  strangely  beau- 
tiful. They  made  clouds  in  the  air,  and  their 
purring  notes  when  they  settled  in  white 
blankets  over  the  fields,  were  heard  pulsating 
over  long  distances. 


193 


"Finally  we  came  to  the  last  tier  of  locks 
at  the  summit  of  which  my  curiosity  was  to  be 
satisfied  by  a  view  of  the  great  City  of  Scan- 
dor,  the  City  of  Glass. 

"It  was  night  when  our  china  boat  floated 
upon  the  waters  of  the  last  lock  that  completed 
the  ascent,  and  immediately  below  the  observa- 
tory Station  or  Settlement  of  Scandor.  I 
was  standing  on  the  deck  of  the  boat,  watch- 
ing impatiently  the  slowly  rising  tide  upon 
which  we  were  borne  upward.  I  could  at  first 
see  as  we  ascended  the  towers  of  the  observa- 
tory station.  Above  me,  looking  at  us  with  in- 
terest, on  the  walls  of  the  lock,  was  a  com- 
pany of  Martians.  The  night  was  cloudy,  and 
the  lights  of  the  hastening  satellites  were  but 
intermittently  evident.  Gradually  my  head 
passed  upward  beyond  the  obstructing  inter- 
ference of  wall  and  gate  and  fence,  and  the 
glorious  and  unimaginable  splendor  of  the  City 
of  Scandor,  like  some  monstrous  continental 
opal,  lay  before  me  in  the  immediate  valley. 

"The  glistening  panes  of  water  below  me 
marked  the  places  of  the  descending  line  of 
locks.  Around  me  were  the  buildings  of  the 
Scandor  Observatory,  and  to  the  right  and  left 
swept  the  forested  slopes  of  a  circular  range 
which,  as  I  later  saw,  ranged  about  in  one  am- 
phitheatrical  circuit  the  great  vale  of  Scan- 
dor. 


194 


"But  only  an  instant's  glance  could  be  spared 
for  this  detail.  The  divine  City  glowing  below 
me  seemed  to  magnetize  attention,  and  con- 
trol, through  its  wonderfulness  each  wavering 
attitude  of  interest.  My  son,  the  eye  of  man 
never  beheld  so  astonishing  a  picture.  Imag- 
ine a  city  reaching  twenty  miles  in  all  direc- 
tions built  of  glass  variously  designed,  inter- 
rupted by  tall  towers,  pyramids,  minarets, 
steeples,  light,  fantastic  and  beautiful  struc- 
tures, all  aflame,  or  rather  softly  radiating  a 
variously  colored  glory  of  light. 

"Imagine  this  great  area  of  building,  pene- 
trated by  broad  avenues,  radiating  like  the 
spokes  of  a  wheel  from  a  center  where  rose  up- 
ward to  the  sky  a  colossal  amphitheatre.  Im- 
agine these  roads,  delineated  to  the  eye  by 
tall  chimneys  or  tubes  of  glass  through  which 
played  an  electric  current,  converting  each  one 
into  a  lambent  pillar.  Imagine  between  these 
paths  of  greenish  opalescence  the  squares  of 
buildings  of  domed,  arched  and  castellated 
roofs,  pierced  and  starred,  and  spread  in  lines 
and  patterns  of  white  electric  lamps.  The 
noble  proportions  of  the  larger  buildings,  the 
graceful  outlines  of  turreted  or  campanulate 
erections,  and  the  smaller  houses  were  all  de- 
fined. I  could  see  canals  or  rivers  of  water 
winding  through  the  City  spanned  by  arches  of 


195 


flame,  and  even  the  symmetrical  disposition  of 
the  dark-leaved  trees  was  visible. 

"But  the  night  was  still  further  turned  to 
day,  for  above  the  City,  high  in  the  velvet 
black  empyrean  were  suspended  thousands  of 
glass  balloons,  each  emitting  the  Geissler-like 
illumination  that  marked  the  lines  of  streets. 
So  full  and  opulent  was  the  flood  of  light,  that 
the  summit  I  had  reached,  the  encircling  hills, 
and  the  farther  side  of  the  saucer-shaped  val- 
ley where  Scandor  lay,  were  bathed  in  an 
equally  diffused  radiation. 

"But,  as  if  the  heavenly  marvel  might  still 
further  startle  and  amaze  and  charm  me,  from 
the  City  rose  the  swelling  chords  of  cho- 
ruses ;  billows  of  sound,  softened  by  distance, 
beat  in  melodious  surges  on  the  high  encom- 
passing lands. 

"I  stood  mute  and  transfixed.  It  seemed  a 
beatific  vision.  If  the  very  air  had  been  filled 
with  ascending  choruses  of  angels,  if  the  dark 
zenith  had  opened  and  revealed  the  throne  of 
the  Almighty,  it  would  have  seemed  but  a 
congruous  and  expected  climax. 

"Long  I  gazed,  and  slowly,  very  slowly  be- 
came conscious  of  the  great  numbers  of  peo- 
ple about  me,  and  that  they  were  being  aug- 
mented by  new  arrivals.  The  porcelain  barge 
I  had  come  in  from  the  City  of  Light,  was 
moored  now  to  the  side  of  the  lock.     I  had 


196 


disembarked,  carrying  almost  mechanically  in 
my  hand,  the  chest  in  which  the  communica- 
tions from  the  Patenta  to  the  Council  were 
locked. 

"It  was  perhaps  only  a  short  interval  before 
the  pilot  woke  me  from  my  trance,  saying  in 
Martian :  'This  is  the  Observation  Hill  of 
Scandor.  These  are  Scandor's  Observatories. 
I  hear  there  is  seen  by  the  observers  some  ap- 
proaching danger  in  the  heavens.  These  citi- 
zens of  Scandor  are  crowding  from  the  City 
to  hear  the  latest  reports.  There  is  a  mes- 
senger from  the  Council  here  waiting  on  the 
observers.  I  will  bring  him  to  you,  and  you 
and  the  messenger  can  at  once  be  conveyed 
to  the  Council.' 

"I  looked  at  him  speechless,  yet  unable  to 
again  realize  I  lived  and  breathed  in  another 
world.  It  seemed  as  if  a  sudden  motion,  a  cry, 
a  whisper  even,  would  break  the  chrysalis  of 
sleep  about  me,  and  plunge  me  into  void  and 
nothingness. 

''The  pilot  left  me,  and  I  saw  him  thread  his 
way  amongst  the  lines  of  people,  moving  to- 
ward the  dark  walls  of  the  observatory  that 
covered  the  hill.  At  long  intervals  rockets 
rose  from  the  opposite  rim  of  the  great  cir- 
cular ridge  around  the  City,  scarring  the  deep, 
inky  vault  about  us  with  lines  of  fire.  They 
ascended   to   an   enormous   distance.     Almost 


197 


instantly  these  were  apparently  answered  by 
similar  rockets  in  other  colors  from  the  hill  I 
stood  on. 

"There  was  a  sudden  movement  about  me. 
The  pilot  had  returned.  With  him  came  the 
messenger.  I  flung  my  absorption  from  me. 
I  was  a  Martian.  The  light  of  recognition 
came  back  again  to  my  eyes — my  tongue  was 
loosened,  my  senses  accommodated  themselves 
to  the  stupendous  circumstances  about  me.  I 
spoke  first. 

"  'Mindo,'  (the  name  of  the  pilot),  T  am 
ready  to  accompany  my  guide  to  the  City. 
Will  you  go  with  us?' 

"'No!  Heboribimo,'  (your  excellency),  'I 
must  stay  at  the  locks.  I  shall  descend  to  the 
City  in  the  boat  to-morrow.  This  man  will 
bring  you  to  the  canal.  I  advise  haste.  There 
is  great  excitement  and  dread  in  Scandor. 
Mars  is  in  the  path  of  a  comet.' 

"I  turned  to  my  guide,  a  beautiful  youth,  not 
dressed  as  the  citizens  of  the  City  of  Light, 
but  clothed  in  a  tight  fitting  doublet  of  a 
creamy  blue,  with  short  trunks  of  yellow,  and 
on  his  feet  were  sandals.  He  saluted  me, 
and  together  we  descended  the  broad  boule- 
vard between  the  widely  separated  lustres  that 
became  more  crowded  as  they  massed  like 
a  progressive  deepening  of  color  into  the  eddy- 
ing splendors  of  the  City  itself. 


198 


"Again  I  realized  how  swift  is  motion  in 
Mars.  We  wished  to  reach  the  City,  and  we 
glided  to  it  by  the  rapid  propulsion  of  de- 
sire. The  broad  way  was  filled  with  lines 
and  groups  of  peoples  clustering  to  the  hill- 
top— and  over  the  far-reaching  slopes  I  could 
see  the  awaiting  throngs.  My  guide  pointed 
to  the  constellation  of  Perseus,  and  I  could 
discern  a  nebulous  mass  of  considerable  di- 
ameter from  which  proceeded  a  wisp-like  ex- 
halation, just  a  phantasmal  fan  of  phosphor- 
escence, behind  it. 

"The  glory  of  the  City  fell  around  us  now ; 
we  were  in  its  broad  streets  beneath  the  tow- 
ering pillars  of  light  that  framed  them  in  a 
fence  of  splendor.  On  we  pressed,  but  I 
glanced  from  side  to  side,  noting  the  great 
glass  houses  and  buildings,  here  colon- 
nades of  translucent  opalescent  beauty,  made  up 
of  hollow  tubes  of  glass  holding  an  interior 
illumination,  and  clambered  over  by  vines 
whose  expanding  leaves  formed  a  tracery  of 
silhouettes  upon  their  sides. 

"Still  on,  past  porticos  and  under  arches, 
through  open  forum-like  squares,  from  which 
were  elevated  the  great  glass  globes  I  have  de- 
scribed, which  hung  lamp-like  in  the  sky, — 
past  palaces  and  arcades,  blocks  of  low  stores 
in  iridescent  tints,  and  long,  straight  fronts  of 
white    opaque    buildings,    through    occasional 


199 


tunnels  into  which  we  plunged  as  into  a  sea 
of  radiance,  and  on,  out,  past  a  few  squares  of 
black  umbrageous  trees  that  seemed  like  dead 
coals  laid  on  the  heat  quivering  hearth  of  a 
furnace,  past  minarets  of  curling,  entwined 
filagrees  of  glass  threads,  past  dull  or  darker 
areas  where  the  huge  glass  factories  were  built, 
their  forges  glowing  like  Cyclops'  eyes  in  the 
night,  and  from  which  was  produced  the  co- 
lossal sum  of  manufacture,  which  this  great 
City  embodied. 

"It  was  a  strange  bewilderment  of  marvels, 
and  from  it  all,  as  if  it  were  its  interior  mo- 
tive and  cause,  sprang  light.  It  was  electric 
in  origin,  conveyed  in  some  peculiar  manner 
from  a  great  source  of  power,  in  the  high  falls 
of  Zenapa,  near  the  City.  But  this  I  learned 
later. 

"I  divined  that  we  were  approaching  the 
center  of  the  city.  Soon,  indeed,  I  saw  be- 
fore me  the  sparkling  walls  of  the  amphithea- 
tre I  had  descried  from  the  hill  of  Observa- 
tion at  the  locks.  Here  it  is,  that  the  great 
plays,  the  gigantic  concerts,  the  operas,  and 
services  of  the  Pan-Tan  are  held.  It  was  a 
seraphic,  astounding  picture.  It  rose  in  the 
midst  of  a  great  square  of  many  acres  in  ex- 
tent, where  the  light,  purposely  subdued,  al- 
lowed its  dazzling  beauty  subdued  isolation. 
How  wonderful !  I  stopped.     For  one  instant, 


200 


before  hurrying  on,  I  gazed  upon  a  miracle 
of  constructive  and  decorative  art.  One  hun- 
dred columns  of  red  glass  rose  upward,  and 
between  them  was  a  wall,  in  tiers  of  green 
glass  arches,  and  on  the  keystone  of  each  a 
pink  globe  of  fire.  From  the  pillars  sprang,  in 
an  inverted  terrace  formation,  metallic  brack- 
ets, carrying  gorgeous  chandeliers  of  a  red 
bronze ;  the  largest  chandeliers  were  at  the 
very  upper  edge  of  the  building,  and  the  cas- 
cade of  light  thus  shed  upon  the  splendid 
fabric  was  indescribably  magnificent. 

"But  there  was  small  time  for  wonder  or 
examination.  We  swept  on  through  the  shad- 
owy gardens  about  it,  and  my  guide  quickly 
brought  me  to  the  Hall  of  the  Council,  a  low, 
inconspicuous  building  of  yellow  brick,  one  of 
the  few  discordant  architectural  notes  in  the 
whole  city. 

"The  doors  of  the  single  chamber,  which 
embraced  all  the  interior  space,  swung  open, 
and  I  stood  on  the  threshold  of  a  shallow,  rec- 
tangular depression,  surrounded  on  all  sides 
with  benches,  and  holding  in  its  central  area 
a  long  table,  at  which,  beneath  tall  lamps,  sat, 
perhaps,  a  dozen  men  and  one  woman.  Op- 
posite to  my  point  of  view,  in  a  niche  upon  the 
further  wall,  was  the  colossal  figure  of  the 
Deity  I  had  seen  in  the  Patenta  at  the  City  of 
Light. 


201 


"The  faces  of  the  twelve  men  turned  to  us  as 
we  entered.  The  herald  announced  my  er- 
rand with  the  customary  salutation  of  'Hebori 
bimo.'  I  was  invited  to  descend  to  the  central 
table.  I  advanced,  and  laying  Chapman's 
chest,  with  its  sealed  communications  upon 
the  table,  spoke : 

"  'I  am  a  stranger.  I  have  come  to  your 
world  from  the  Earth.  I  bring  news,  celes- 
tial news,  from  the  astronomers  of  the  City  of 
Light.  I  had  a  companion  to  whom  all  this 
was  entrusted.  He  was  killed  in  the  quarries 
of  Tiniti.  I  came  on,  bidden  so  to  do  by  Alca, 
the  Superintendent.  The  papers  of  the  Wise 
Men  of  the  Patenta  are  here.' 

"I  laid  the  chest  upon  the  table.  My  speech 
was  yet  unformed,  and  perhaps  upon  the  deli- 
cate and  intellectual  faces  before  me,  there 
dwelt,  with  the  transient  influence  of  a  passing 
thought,  a  smile  of  sympathy  or  amusement. 
Then  a  young  being  at  the  head  of  the  table 
exclaimed  in  Martian : 

"  'Welcome,  stranger.  All  who  come  to  us 
are  soon  made  one  with  ourselves.  The  Mar- 
tian spirit  is  that  of  salutation  and  friendship. 
We  have  heard  of  the  discoveries  in  the  new 
commotions  in  planetary  space.  Our  own  as- 
tronomers have  announced  them.  This  great 
City  of  Scandor,  the  product  of  many  cen- 
turies'    toil     and     invention,     is     apparently 


202 


doomed.  It  lies  in  the  path,  certainly  defined 
and  determined  by  observers,  of  a  small  com- 
etary  mass,  which  will  plunge  upon  it  a  rain 
of  rock  and  iron.  Even  now  this  approaching 
body  grows  more  and  more  visible  in  the 
sky.  The  astronomers  are  working  at  the 
problem,  hoping  some  deflection,  some  inter- 
positional  mercy  will  carry  off  this  disturbing 
incidence.  But  if  we  are  to  be  destroyed, 
if  there  is  no  escape  from  the  singular  for- 
tune of  annihilation  by  an  inrushing  stream  of 
meteoric  bodies,  then  warning,  through  proc- 
lamation, shall  be  made,  and  our  citizens  will 
move  out  of  the  city  to  Asco,  and  the  islands 
of  Pinit.' 

"He  ceased;  upon  him  the  expectant  faces 
of  the  others,  assembled  about  the  table,  were 
fixed,  and  a  visible  tremor  of  dismay  and 
grief  seemed  to  convulse  them.  A  few  cov- 
ered their  faces  with  their  hands,  others  stood 
up  and  gazed  at  the  benignant  colossus  in 
bronze  at  the  end  of  the  room,  while  others, 
motionless,  still  maintained  their  attitude  of 
attention. 

"The  presiding  officer,  with  a  slight  inclina- 
tion of  the  body,  raised  his  hand,  and  address- 
ing me,  said:  'You  shall  be  the  guest  of  our 
City,  and  if  it  must  be  that  this  great  capital  of 
Mars  must  succumb  to  this  mysterious  in- 
vasion,   if    this    place,    so    long   a    marvel    of 


beauty,  shall  be  succeeded  by  a  heap  of  burn- 
ing stones,  then  you  shall  be  our  companion  in 
pilgrimage.  Remain  with  us  until  the  end  of 
this  strange  circumstance  is  known.' 

"As  he  finished,  a  noise  of  indescribable 
lamentation  from  a  multitude  of  voices  broke 
upon  our  ears — the  sound  of  running  feet  and 
sharp  cries  of  amazement,  crashed  in  upon  the 
half  ominous   silence  about  us. 

"I  turned  instinctively  to  my  guide.  He 
stood  statue-like  beside  me,  with  a  stealing 
pallor  crossing  his  face,  and  then,  the  doors 
of  the  apartment  swung  open,  and  loud  voices 
were  heard  crying,  'The  Peril  comes.  Stand 
forward.    To  the  Hills !' 

"Panic,  that  nameless  associated  mental 
terror  of  the  unknown  and  the  impending, 
which  on  Earth  spreads  fever-like  through 
multitudes,  had  arisen  amongst  the  Martians, 
and  hurrying  crowds  were  hastening  in  a  wild 
retreat  from  the  City  to  the  hills. 

"All  thought  of  the  Council,  of  my  errand, 
or  of  the  new  relation  I  had  been  graciously 
accorded,  disappeared  from  my  mind.  Fright- 
ened by  the  sudden  premonition  of  destruction, 
bewildered  by  the  torrent  of  new  sensations, 
and  even  yet  only  half  confident  that  my  ex- 
istence in  the  new  world  was  altogether  real, 
I  was  impelled  to  spring  forward.     Reaching 


204 


the  doors,  hands  shot  out  around  me,  and  I 
was  swept  in  the  tide  of  running  forms. 

"It  was  a  living  stream  of  manifold  com- 
plexity. Only  for  one  moment  did  I  lose  con- 
sciousness. The  next  I  was  struggling  to  es- 
cape from  the  spreading  tentacles  of  this  in- 
volved current.  I  leaped  to  the  projection  of 
a  low  pedestal,  upon  which  an  unfinished  con- 
struction or  group  of  statues  was  in  progress. 
Holding  my  exposed  position  for  an  instant, 
I  wrenched  myself  clear  of  the  pulsating 
throngs,  and  succeeded  in  gaining  the  low 
summit  above  me.  Here  I  was  free  to  look 
around  me.  My  guide  was  gone,  the  Council 
House  was  lost  to  view ;  I  was  alone.  Below 
passed  the  surging  crowd,  made  up  of  youths 
and  girls,  with  few  older  men  or  women,  many 
beautiful,  all  expressing  the  Martian  distinc- 
tion, but  now  strangely  bewildered  and  un- 
controlled. It  was  a  reversed  emotional  pic- 
ture from  that  buoyant,  frenzied  throng  that 
a  few  weeks  ago  carried  me  into  the  Hall  of 
the  Patenta. 

"Faces  were  turned  toward  the  sky,  and 
hands,  as  if  in  ejaculation,  were  waved  up  and 
down,  or  thrust  in  significant  indices  toward 
that  fatal  blurred  blot  of  splendor  in  the 
heavens.  I  followed  their  direction.  The  ap- 
proaching nebula  had  grown  sensibly  since  an 
hour  ago.  It  glittered,  the  size  of  a  shield,  and 


205 


a  light  coruscation  seemed  emanating  from 
its  edges.  The  faces  of  the  multitude  were 
justified.  The  mass  above  us  was  a  train  of 
celestial  missiles,  hurling  toward  Mars.  Its 
contact  seemed  more  and  more  imminent.  I 
felt  a  nameless  terror.  The  thought  of  isola- 
tion in  this  new  world,  the  unknown  awful- 
ness  of  this  planetary  disturbance,  the  sud- 
den extinction  of  the  hopes  that  were  feeding 
my  heart  with  a  new  life,  and  the  forecasting 
of  the  impossible  agonies  of  universal  death  in 
this  great,  strange  place  I  had  so  wonderfully 
entered,  overcame  me.  I  fell  sobbing  to  the 
glassy  floor  on  which  I  was  standing.  It  was 
again  a  new  proof  of  my  assumption  of  the 
ecstatic  nature  of  these  children  of  light  and 
music,  impulse  and  inspiration. 

"The  convulsion  passed.  I  felt  stronger,  and 
was  quickened  with  a  keenly  prudent  deter- 
mination to  escape  from  the  city,  find  my  way 
back  to  the  Hill  of  Observation,  and  if  possi- 
ble, send  you,  my  son,  my  last  experience  be- 
fore all  had  become  silence. 

"I  could  see  the  regular  ascent  of  the 
rockets  from  the  distant  hill.  I  found  the 
streets  about  me  almost  emptied,  the  white, 
lustrous  river  of  life  had  passed.  I  descended 
to  the  pavement.  The  way  past  the  splendid 
Amphitheatre  was  easily  found,  and  then 
I    hastened,    guided    by    a    dumb    instinct    of 


206 

direction,  toward  the  still  ascending  rockets. 
I  came  to  the  broad  Boulevard  which  led  to 
the  Hill  of  Observation,  and  went  on,  now 
plainly  controlled  by  the  sweeping  avenue  of 
lamps  about,  and  in  front  of  me. 

"I  shall  not  pause  to  recount  the  success  of 
my  application  to  the  astronomers  to  use  the 
transmitters  of  the  wireless  telegraphy,  which 
are  as  fully  perfected  here  as  at  the  City  of 
Scandor. 

"As  my  message  ends,  the  dawn  ascends 
from  the  wide  margins  of  the  Ribi  country.  I 
am  stunned  with  drowsiness.  The  Sun's  rays 
have  extinguished  the  scintillant  peril  in  the 
skies.  But  the  order  has  gone  forth  to  leave 
the  City,  to  camp  upon  the  hills,  the  City  of 
Scandor  is  doomed,  and  the  area  of  destruc- 
tion it  embraces  is  the  diametral  measure  of 
the " 

I  heard  no  more.  Overcome  with  fatigue, 
exposure  and  increasing  pulmonary  weakness, 
of  which  I  had  had  painful  premonitions,  I 
fainted  at  the  table,  and  fell  to  the  floor  of 
the  damp  and  inclement  room. 

My  assistants  aver  that  the  transmission 
ceased  almost  the  next  moment  upon  my  col- 
lapse, and  the  unfinished  sentence  of  my 
father's  message  can  be  readily  understood  as 
implying  that    the    foreign    body,    or    Swarm, 


207 


which  was  destined  to  strike  Mars,  had  been 
determined  as  having  about  the  amplitude  of 
the  City  of  Scandor. 

Days  lengthened  into  weeks,  weeks  to 
months,  but  though  unflinchingly  watched  by 
night  and  day,  no  further  message  was  re- 
ceived. I  had  become  weaker,  pale  and  life- 
less. The  terrible  malady  made  its  inroads 
upon  a  frame  unable  to  meet  its  savage  or  in- 
sidious attacks.  This  weakness  was  aggrava- 
ted by  the  excitment  produced  by  the  singular 
experience  I  had  passed  through.  My  nerves 
had  undergone  a  strain  quite  unusual,  and  the 
interior  sense  of  elation,  reacting  its  fits  of 
extreme  mental  despondency  dislocated  my 
system,  and  accelerated  the  gliding  virus  of 
disease  inundating  the  capillaries  of  circulation 
and  breaking  down  the  tissues  with  fever  and 
consumption. 


208 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Miss  Dodan  came  more  and  more  frequent- 
ly to  see  me.  The  thought  of  my  physical  de- 
pression, the  revulsion  of  hopelessness  over 
my  changing  lineaments  made  the  love  I  bore 
her  more  painful  and  enervating.  I  tried 
hard  to  conceal  my  fears  over  my  condition. 
But  Miss  Dodan  had  been  observant.  Her  de- 
veloping affections  became  daily  more  ten- 
der and  delicate,  and  her  solicitude  evinced 
itself  in  many  charming,  thoughtful  ways  that 
added  only  a  more  poignant  sadness  to  my  suf- 
ferings. 

I  was,  indeed,  tortured  by  the  conflicting 
aims  life  seemed  to  furnish  me.  On  the  one 
hand  was  the  necessity  of  continuing,  if  I 
could,  my  communications  with  my  father;  on 
the  other,  the  duty  I  owed  myself  to  abandon 
all  for  the  woman  I  truly  loved,  and  to  reno- 
vate and  establish  my  health  so  that  I  might 
woo  and  win,  and  marry  her. 

It  was,  in  a  sense,  an  ethical  question,  but 
it  was  quite  as  hard  to  determine  by  ordinary 


209 


arguments  whether  I  could  have  any  permis- 
sion to  violate  my  promise  to  my  father,  as  it 
was  to  estimate  the  exact  measure  of  my  ob- 
ligations to  myself  and  Miss  Dodan.  An  in- 
cident occurred  that  dissipated  this  dilemma, 
sent  Miss  Dodan  to  England,  and  left  me  at 
Christ  Church  to  receive  the  last  message  from 
my  father  before  the  sickness  had  fully  devel- 
oped that  now  has  laid  its  searching  and  re- 
morseless veto  upon  any  further  life  or  happi- 
ness for  me  in  this  world. 

Miss  Dodan  and  myself  were  seated  to- 
gether upon  a  bench  drawn  up  in  the  sun- 
shine at  the  foot  of  the  Observatory,  watch- 
ing with  delight  the  distinct  changing  sea, 
the  plumes  of  smoke  from  diminished  steam- 
ers, and  the  white  glory  of  full-rigged  ships. 
It  was  the  autumn  of  the  southern  country, 
and  the  dreamy  spell  of  the  declining  days  fell 
softly  upon  the  material  tissues  of  nature,  as 
well  as  on  the  acquiescent  spirit  of  man. 

"Father,"  said  Miss  Dodan,  uncertainly, 
while  she  formed  her  hand  into  an  improvised 
tube,  and  looked  through  it  on  the  peaceful 
scene  at  our  feet,  "has  been  telling  me  of  my 
birthplace  in  Devonshire.  It  must  be  very 
beautiful,  more  beautiful  than  it  is  here.  But 
there  is  no  sea,  and  it  seems  to  me  now  that  I 
should  die  without  it ;  it  is  the  very  soul  and 
voice,  too,  of  all  this  picture !"   She  spread  out 


210 


her  arms,  and  half  willfully  threw  back  the 
one  nearest  me,  until  it  swept  over  my  head, 
and  I  caught  and  kissed  the  opened  palm. 

"Yes,"  I  replied,  "the  sea  relieves  every- 
thing about  or  near  it,  from  the  humiliation  of 
commonness.  The  stamp  of  distinction  rests 
on  its  printless  waves.  It  was  the  first  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  and  its  primal  regency  has 
never  been  lost  or  forfeited ;"  a  suspicion 
crossed  my  mind:  "How  was  it  your  father 
spoke  of  Devonshire.  I  never  knew  before 
that  you  came  from  that  pearl  of  the  countries 
of  England.     Would  you  like  to  see  it?" 

My  voice  half  sank,  and  the  hitherto  unsus- 
pected fact  that  Mr.  Dodan  had  observed  my 
physical  danger,  and  now  was  planning  to  in- 
terrupt his  daughter's  intimacy  and  hallucina- 
tion for  a  poor,  failing  man,  struggling  with 
an  impossible  problem,  and  a  mortal  malady, 
seemed  suddenly  understood  by  me.  I  turned 
to  her  a  face  of  questioning  concern.  Her 
eyes  were  still  fixed  upon  the  distant,  pulsating 
sea.  "No,"  she  answered,  half  nonchalantly. 
"I  suppose  not,  and  yet — why  not !  I  have 
only  known  this  country;  to  cross  the  great 
ocean,  to  see  the  capital  of  the  world,  to  learn 
the  great  wonders  of  its  palaces  and  temples, 
to  see  its  multitudes,  to  see  the  Queen.  Ah ! 
to  see  the  Queen !" 

Her  hands  folded  tightly  together  across  her 


211 


brow,  she  looked  the  very  embodiment  of  rev- 
erent expectation,  and  the  blushing  roses  on 
her  cheeks,  the  lovelight  in  her  eyes  seemed  to 
deepen  for  an  instant,  and  then  pale  slightly, 
as  she  turned  to  me  only  to  see  me  bury  my 
head  in  my  hands,  holding  back  the  cry  of 
stifled  hope  that  often  before  had  leaped  to  my 
lips,  but  never  had  before  so  nearly  passed 
them. 

"Oh,  Bradford,"  she  cried,  "would  you  mind 
so  much !  I  would  soon  be  back  again.  And 
then,  you  know,  this  awful  telegraphic  work 
would  be  over,  and  we  could  be  happy  together 
without  a  thought  of  that  cold,  far-away 
Mars!" 

We  talked  on  together  till  the  dusky  night 
had  begun  to  gather  its  shadows  about  us,  and 
Mars,  that  marvellous  spot  of  light  from 
whose  untouched  continents  the  waves  of  mag- 
netic oscillation  might  even  then  be  starting 
on  their  pathless  transit  across  the  abyss  of 
space,  destined  for  my  ear,  began  to  shine 
above  us. 

It  was  clear  to  me  now  that  Mr.  Dodan  had 
been  carefully  nursing  in  his  daughter  a  de- 
sire to  see  England  and  the  Queen,  and  her 
own  little  birthplace,  and  that  he  had  formed  a 
resolution  to  separate  us,  for  his  daughter's 
best  interests,  as  he  thought. 

I  suffered  from  a  very  proud,  sensitive  na- 


212 


ture,  perhaps  unwholesomely  intensified  by 
the  lonely  life  I  had  led,  and  a  peculiar  sense 
of  my  difference  from  other  people. 

This  revelation,  so  unwelcome,  so  fraught 
with  painful  anticipations,  roused  my  pride  to 
a  sharp  climax  of  revolt,  disdain  and  defiance. 
Miss  Dodan  should  go, — I  should  urge  it.  I 
would  applaud  and  hasten  it,  there  would  be 
no  weakness,  no  supplication,  no  obstacles  on 
my  part.  Let  death  write  his  inerrant  claim 
to  me,  let  it  be  recognized;  Mr.  Dodan  need 
not  be  disturbed  as  to  my  absolute  self-con- 
trol. 

The  very  acerbity  of  my  coming  misery, 
through  Miss  Dodan's  absence,  fully  realized 
by  me,  seemed  now  only  to  add  a  desperation 
of  assumed  indifference  and  gayety  to  all  my 
actions.  I  argued  against  delay,  and  dwelt 
with  excellent  effect  upon  the  charms  of  the 
visit.  I  assumed  that  Miss  Dodan  needed  the 
change,  that  the  educational  value  of  such  an 
experience  would  be  incalculable. 

Mr.  Dodan  was  frankly  surprised  and 
pleased.  This  unexpected  support  and  enthu- 
siastic commendation  of  his  plan  was  some- 
thing he  gratefully  accepted,  and  he  assumed 
a  new  manner  toward  me.  He  ascribed  to 
me  a  power  of  self-renunciation  which  won 
his  ardent  approval  and  admiration. 

The   day  was   at   last   fixed.     Miss   Dodan, 


213 


young,  appreciative,  and  curious,  was  elated 
at  the  prospect  of  the  voyage,  and,  momenta- 
rily, at  least,  forgot  her  first  reluctance  to  de- 
sert me.  The  preparations  were  all  completed. 
I  need  not  dwell  upon  all  the  detail  of  that 
last  week.  It  was  a  cruel  ordeal  for  me,  but 
no  one  would  have  suspected  my  real  anguish. 
I  seemed  the  most  thoughtful  of  all,  the  most 
naturally  buoyant  and  hopeful  for  the  success 
of  the  trip.  I  forgot  nothing.  The  telegraph 
station  was  not,  however,  neglected.  I 
watched  at  night,  and  during  the  hours  of  my 
absence  my  assistant  was  persistently  present 
in  the  tower. 

At  last  the  steamer  sailed  away  from  the 
wharf  at  Port  Littelton.  The  last  moments 
I  passed  alone  with  Miss  Dodan  were  sacred, 
sweet  memories ;  all  that  I  have  now. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dodan  and  Miss  Dodan  were 
waving  their  handkerchiefs  from  the  deck  as  I 
turned  sorrowfully  back  to  Christ  Church.  I 
realized  that  I  had  seen  Miss  Dodan  for  the 
last  time,  and  that  when  she  returned  to  New 
Zealand,  she  would  only  find  me  gone.  There 
was  but  one  duty  now.  To  resume,  if  possible, 
the  communications  with  my  father,  and  pre- 
pare the  story  of  my  experience  and  discov- 
eries, and  leave  it  to  the  world. 

I  went  back  to  the  Observatory.  I  was 
again  alone.     A  reaction  of  despondency  over- 


214 


whelmed  me,  and  it  was  coincident  with  a 
hemorrhage,  which  left  me  weak  and  nervous. 
I  resumed  my  watching  at  the  station.  I 
seemed  to  anticipate  a  new  message.  I  en- 
dured peculiar  and  excruciating  excitement,  a 
tense  suspense  of  desire  and  prevision  that  de- 
prived me  of  appetite  and  sleep,  and  accelera- 
ted the  ravages  of  the  disease,  that  now,  vic- 
torious over  my  weakened,  nervous  force,  be- 
gan the  last  stages  of  its  devastating  advance. 

It  was  a  clear,  cold  night  of  exquisite  sever- 
ity and  beauty — May  20,  1894,  that  the  third 
message  came  from  my  father.  It  was  an- 
nounced, as  had  been  all  the  others,  by  the 
sudden  response  of  the  Morse  receiver.  A 
few  nights  before,  grasping  at  a  vague  hope 
that  I  might  again  reach  him  with  the  mag- 
netic waves  at  my  command,  I  had  launched 
into  space  the  single  sentence :  "Await  me ! 
Death  is  very  near."  The  message  that  now 
startled  my  ears  began  with  an  exact  answer 
to  that  trans-abysmal  despatch : 

"My  son,  the  thought  of  your  death  fills 
me  with  happiness.  Surely  you  will  come  to 
this  wonderful  and  unspeakable  world,  you 
will  see  me  again,  and  I  you,  but  under  such 
new  circumstances !  My  heart  yearns  for  you 
immeasurably.  Come !  Come  quickly !  To 
press  you  to  my  heart,  to  speak  with  you,  to 


215 


teach  you  the  new  things,  and  Oh !  more  than 
all,  to  bring  you  to  your  mother.  For,  Tony, 
she  is  found ;  my  search  is  ended.  I  have 
discovered  her  whom  the  cruel  mystery  of 
Death  on  earth  so  sharply  removed  from  us, 
in  youth  and  radiance.  I  have  not  yet  revealed 
myself.  The  joy  of  anticipation  surpasses 
thought  or  words.  I  have  hastened  back  from 
seeing  her,  whom  to  leave  in  this  paradise  im- 
parts the  one  pang  I  have  known  in  this  new 
life,  hastened  again  to  the  Hill  of  Observation 
that  now  looks  on  the  cruel  ruin,  the  emptiness 
of  desolation,  where  once  was  the  City  of 
Scandor.    Let  me  tell  you  all : 

"When  I  sent  you  my  last  message  I  was  at 
the  Tower  of  Observation.  As  the  last  wave 
was  emitted  from  the  transmitter,  the  hand  of 
Superintendent  Alca,  whom  I  met  at  the 
mines,  was  laid  upon  my  shoulder.  I  looked 
up  in  surprise.  He  answered  my  question- 
ing glance :  'I  did  not  return  with  Chapman. 
There  was  no  need  of  it.  A  barge  going  to 
the  City  of  Light  took  the  body.  I  explained 
everything  in  a  letter  to  the  Council.  I  was 
distressed  over  the  news  I  had  received  of  the 
approach  of  the  cometary  mass,  which  I  hav' 
detected  myself,  and  I  hurried  after  you  in 
my  own  kil-chow  (the  name  of  the  little  por- 
celain steamers),  anxious  to  see  this  terrible 
thing.     Let  us  go  out  and  watch  the  wonder. 


216 


Whatever  happens  we  shall  remain  together. 
I  am  from  Scandor  myself,  and  though  I 
might  have  been  safer  at  the  mines,  I  could 
not  stay  there  in  the  crisis.' 

"We  descended  to  the  ground  and  walked 
out  over  the  hillside.  The  encircling  range 
of  high  country  about  Scandor  is,  perhaps, 
one  thousand  feet  high.  Its  crest  is  a  low 
swell,  that  beyond  the  city  falls  away  in 
broken,  irregular  slopes  to  the  country  of  the 
Ribi  on  one  side,  and  to  far  outstretched 
plains  on  almost  every  other  side.  This  dome 
was  covered  with  the  people  of  Scandor,  flee- 
ing from  the  doomed  city.  The  long  lines  of 
moving  figures  were  issuing  from  the  city 
through  its  numerous  boulevards,  and  crowd- 
ing the  spaces  on  the  hilltops.  The  astrono- 
mers knew  exactly  now  the  nature  of  the 
approaching  mass,  its  orbit,  spacial  extent  and 
weight.  Their  proclamation  had  been  pre- 
pared and  pasted  all  over  the  city,  announc- 
ing its  certain  destruction,  but  that  the  area 
of  devastation  would  only  embrace  the  city, 
that  the  cometary  visitor  was  a  narrow  train 
or  procession  of  meteors  of  stone  and  iron, 
that  the  force  of  impact  would  be  considerable, 
enough  to  crush  to  the  ground  the  glassy 
splendor  of  the  beautiful  city,  and  that  be- 
yond its  limits  there  would  be  almost  no  falls. 

"Beautiful,  indeed,  was  Scandor  in  the  morn- 


217 


ing  light.  It  lay  before  us  shining  with  a  hun- 
dred huas.  How  can  I  tell  you  of  its  exquisite 
perfection !  Its  arrangement  expressed  a  color 
scheme  simple  and  effective.  The  amphi- 
theatre rose  in  the  center,  an  opalescent  yel- 
low ;  the  boulevards  spaced  with  trees, 
stretched  out  in  radiating  lines  from  it,  de- 
fined by  the  blue  lines  of  ornamental  metal 
pillars  which  held  the  lamps ;  from  point  to 
point,  piercing  the  air  from  the  shady  peaks  or 
squares  shot  up  also  the  needles  of  metal  hold- 
ing the  curious  electric  globes,  while  at  regu- 
lar intervals  blue  domes  like  gigantic  azure 
bubbles  interrupted  the  streets  of  square  and 
colonnaded  houses,  that  began  around  the  am- 
phitheatre, with  pale  saffron  tones,  and  grew  in 
intensity  until  the  edges  of  the  huge  populous 
ellipse  were  laid  like  a  deep  orange  rim  upon 
the  green  country  side.  The  light  falling  up- 
on this  reflected,  refracted  and  dispersed, 
seemed  to  convert  it  into  a  liquid  and  faintly 
throbbing  lake  of  color,  cut  up  into  segments 
by  the  dark  lanes  or  streets  of  trees. 

"And  this  was  to  be  crushed  and  crumbled 
to  the  ground.  The  houses  and  all  the  con- 
structions are  built  of  glass  bricks  laid  in 
courses,  as  with  you  on  the  earth,  a  soluble 
glass  forming  the  cement  that  holds  them  in 
contact    and   together.     The   huge   glass    fac- 


218 


tories  making  this  formed  a  black  circle  in  one 
part  of  the  City. 

"It  was  now  day,  and  the  meteoric  nebula  was 
invisible.  All  day  the  people  came  crowding  to 
the  hills.  At  last,  as  we  gazed  in  bewildered 
admiration  at  the  strange  multitudes  about  us, 
the  sound  of  distant  music,  the  organ-like 
swell  of  a  titanic  chorus  approaching  was 
heard.  Far  away  down  the  boulevard,  on 
whose"  apex  we  stood,  we  saw  a  marching 
retinue  of  men  and  women  surrounding  a 
platform  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  men.  The 
platform  held  the  upright  figures  of  the  Coun- 
cil amongst  whom,  distinguished  by  a  blue 
chalcal  tunic  bound  about  him  by  yellow 
cords,  was  the  noble  being  I  had  seen  in  the 
Council  chamber  on  the  night  of  my  arrival 
in   Scandor. 

"How  marvellous  it  all  seemed.  The  sense 
of  unreality,  of  dreamland  again  overpowered 
me,  a  wild  horror  like  some  mad  possession 
seized  me.  I  shook  convulsively,  and  cov- 
ered my  face  in  my  hands,  stricken  through 
and  through  with  a  nameless  repining  misery 
of  doubt,  of  apprehension,  of  dismay.  It  was 
the  last  struggle  of  readjustment  between 
my  memories  of  earth,  my  identity  as  a  man 
on  the  earth,  and  this  new  life  I  had  entered. 
Alca  caught  me  affectionately  and  placed  the 
acrid  bean  I  had  tasted  in  the  City  of  Light 


219 


in  my  mouth.  The  black  suffocation  passed, 
and  as  I  slowly  returned  to  realization  an  J 
serenity  I  opened  my  eyes  upon  the  city,  now 
dead  and  silent,  but  blazing  with  all  its  lights, 
awaiting  desolation,  dressed  in  its  sumptuous 
glory  like  some  princely  captive  on  whom 
the  doom  of  immolation,  before  an  unappeas- 
able deity,  had  suddenly  fallen.  It  was  night 
fall. 

''Suddenly  a  flash,  a  short  piercing  note,  a 
loud  report,  and  the  sky  above  us  seemed 
crowded  with  glowing  missiles.  The  impact 
from  the  first  arrivals  of  the  cometary  body 
upon  the  outer  envelopes  of  the  Martian  atmos- 
phere had  begun.  A  loud  shout  of  attention, 
surprise  and  half  extemporized  terror  rose 
from  the  multitudes  about  us.  It  was  a 
breathless  moment.  The  oncoming  shoals 
shot  forward  in  rapid  jets  of  fire  now  clouded 
together  in  igneous  masses,  now  separated 
in  disjointed  streaks  and  radiant  clusters  of 
snapping,  shining  bolts. 

"As  yet  the  material  rushing  in  upon  us 
failed,  in  most  instances,  to  reach  the  ground 
in  solid  forms.  It  was  burned  up  in  the  air. 
The  spectacle  was  surpassingly  strange.  The 
air  before  us  was  weaved  with  crossing  shafts, 
threads,  and  traces  of  phosphorescent  light. 
Behind  this  veil  still  shone  with  responsive 
beauty  the  great  city,  while  rising  occasionally 


220 


in  bursts  of  color,  we  could  see  the  alarm 
rockets  from  the  opposite  hills  penetrate  the 
entering  flood  of  light  with  frivolous  and  ex- 
tinguished protests. 

"About  half  an  hour  after  the  glory  reached 
us,  and  as  on  all  sides  the  country  shone  in 
spectral  illumination,  a  great  mass,  decrepita- 
ting with  minute  explosions  along  its  on- 
coming side,  plunged  down  upon  the  noble 
amphitheatre  of  glass.  A  dreadful  sound  of 
crashing  stone  followed,  and  then,  rapidly 
fired  from  the  aerial  batteries,  came  still  more 
of  the  dark,  half  ignited  bodies,  bathed  in 
hurrying  streams  of  evanescent  blades,  and 
splinters  of  light. 

"And  now  the  destructive  bombardment 
had  really  begun.  The  celestial  downpour 
increased,  the  valley  below  us  sent  upward  the 
detonations  of  exploding  meteorites  and  the 
harsh  reverberating  crash  and  overthrow  of 
glass  fabrics.  The  lights  of  the  city  were 
brokenly  extinguished  and  the  pitiless  hail  of 
ruin   continued   with   increasing   fierceness. 

"It  was  an  awful,  glorious  scene.  The  vault 
of  the  sky  emptying  itself  in  an  avalanche 
of  flame,  while  from  within  the  wide  stream 
of  projectiles,  collisions  caused  by  some  ac- 
cident of  deflection  originated  interior  spots 
of  sudden  blazing  light.  The  irregular  and 
separated   shocks   of   sound   from   the   falling 


231 


city  now  ran  together  in  a  continuous  roar  of 
dislocated  and  broken  walls,  towers,  parapets 
and  citadels.  Coruscations  sprang  out  from 
the  yet  heated  masses,  accumulating  on  the 
ground,  as  they  became'  incessantly  struck  by 
new  accessions.  The  ground  trembled  with 
ceaseless  fulminations  and  impingement,  the 
atmosphere  seemed  saturated  with  sulphurous 
odors,  and  the  panoramic  flow  of  fluctuating 
splendor  shed  a  day-like  brightness  upon  the 
upturned  faces  of  the  startled  and  stupefied 
multitude. 

"All  night  long  the'  invasion  continued.  The 
area  of  destruction,  exactly  as  the  astrono- 
mers had  defined  it,  was  confined  to  the  long 
elliptical  basin  in  which  Scandor  lay.  Be- 
yond it  hardly  a  branch  upon  the  trees  was 
broken,  though  occasional  erratic  bombs  shot 
over  us  and  fell  miles  away  along  the  borders 
of  the  canals. 

"As  the  morning  dawned,  the  shower  dis- 
continued, a  few  laggards  fell  in  scattering 
confusion  over  the  prostrate  city,  and  the  sun 
climbing  the  eastern  sky  sent  its  peaceful  re- 
assuring light  upon  a  cairn-like  heap  of  deso- 
lation. The  chilled  surface  of  the  fallen  mete- 
orites were  broken  up  by  areas  of  glowing  cin- 
der-like surfaces.  The  glittering  and  opaline 
city  of  glass,  the  City  of  Scandor,  capital  of 
the   Martian   world,   was   buried   beneath   the 


222 


scorching  and  stony  fragments  of  a  minor 
comet,  or  some  diminished  and  wandering 
meteor  train  which  suddenly  issuing  from  the 
unknown  depths  of  space  had  descended  with 
mathematical  precision  upon  the  treasure  city 
of  the  planet. 

"The  Martian  legions  remained  on  the  hill- 
tops, sombered  and  silent.  The  awful  reality, 
impregnable  and  drear,  before  them  had 
changed  their  spirit,  and  they  looked  into  each 
other's    faces    with    bewilderment. 

"I  had  stayed  with  Alca  throughout  the" 
night,    and    I    now   turning    to   him    said : 

"'Let  us  go!  What  can  we  do  here?  Let 
us  walk  away  for  awhile.  I  am  dizzy  with 
terror.' 

"  'Yes,'  he  answered,  and  tears  seemed  filling 
his  eyes,  'we  will  go.  We  will  walk  out  into 
the  hill  and  river  country  beyond  the  canal. 
Many  are  wandering  over  the  country  now. 
The  farmers  will  harbor  us  and  the  beauty  of 
the  lanes  will  bring  us  cheerfulness.' 

"And  so  we  went  away,  hastening  with  the 
Martian  velocity  of  motion  until  as  the  sun  hung 
in  the  zenith,  we  had  reached  a  hillside  slop- 
ing upon  a  meadow  space  through  which 
passed  the  clear  but  sluggish  waters  of  a  wide 
stream.  A  tulip-like  grass  was  distributed 
in  the  heavy  luxuriant  growth  of  the  meadow, 
which  bore  upon  pendant  threads  a  blue  bell- 


223 


like  flower.  A  gentle  wind,  rising  and  falling, 
swept  over  them,  lifting  and  blowing  out  the 
cups  as  it  passed  off  to  the  surface  of  the  water 
and  printed  it  with  plashes  of  ripples.  A  piece 
of  wood  pushed  out  from  the  hillside,  the  trees 
that  formed  it  struggling  out  into  the  meadow 
in  a  broken  succession  of  individuals  like  a  line 
of  men.  Here,  leaning  against  the  last  tree 
trunk  that  stood  quite  alone  in  advance  of  its 
companions,  was  a  young  woman,  her  arms 
folded  above  the  cap — like  the  Grecian  cassos — 
that  imperfectly  held  her  hair,  and  dressed  in 
a  yellow  tunic  and  the  half  seen  leggings  of 
meshed  chalcal  thread — a  lovely  picture  of 
meditation. 

"I  caught  Alca's  arm  in  a  sudden  wave  of 
desire  and  excitement.  It  was  the  impulse 
of  love,  the  first  burning  of  its  sacred  fire  I 
had  known  in  Mars,  and  it  was  the  intense 
certainty  of  recognition  that  made  it  so  im- 
petuous. My  Son,  your  Mother  was  before 
me! 

"The  same  glorious  beauty  I  had  known 
on  earth  covered  her,  and  like  a  mystic  light 
shone  from  her  face  and  person.  I  was  my- 
self again,  young,  and  she  was  the  same.  The 
impelling  sense  of  a  superhuman  Destiny 
bringing  us  together  again  in  this  new  world, 
forced  from  me  an  ejaculation  of  thankful- 
ness.   The  cry  was  not  loud,  but  audible  to 


224 


her  ears,  and  she  turned  toward  us.  Yes!  it 
was  Martha,  as  I  knew  her  in  those  raptured 
days  of  love  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  be- 
fore disease  and  weakness  and  age  had  stolen 
the  bloom  from  her  cheeks,  the  light  from  her 
eyes,  and  the  fair  presentiment  of  charm  and 
perfection  from  her  body.  She  did  not  see  me 
perhaps  clearly.  Certainly  she  did  not  recog- 
nize me.  An  instant's  scrutiny  and  her  face 
turned  again  to  the  open  exposure  of  hill  and 
field,  stream  and  cloud-flecked  sky. 

"Alca  had  observed  my  gestures  of  delight, 
and,  perhaps  reading  my  thoughts  by  that 
intuition  of  mind  so  wonderful  in  the  Mar- 
tians, pushed  me  toward  her  gently  and  moved 
iway  from  us  toward  the  brink  of  the  river. 

"I  stood  for  a  moment  hesitating,  over- 
whelmed with  the  marvel  of  this  new  thing. 
I  stole  on,  and  finally  pushing  aside  the  high 
grown  grass,  was  at  her  side — at  the  side  of 
the  very  form  and  feature  of  the  woman  who 
had  taught  me  on  earth  the  worth  of  living 
and  the  meaning  and  the  glory  of  rectitude. 

"She  was  breathing  fast,  her  bosom  rising 
and  falling  with  quick  respirations,  and  her 
cheeks  flushed  with  color,  made  a  delicious 
foil  to  the  pearly  tone  of  her  face,  concealed 
on  her  neck  and  forehead  by  the  escaping 
tresses  of  her  dark  hair. 

"I   drew  back,  trembling  with  anticipation, 


325 


my  heart  beating,  and  my  clasped  hands  folded 
on  my  breast  in  an  agony  of  restraint.  She 
was  talking,  talking  to  herself  in  the  low 
musical  voice  of  the  Martians.  The  wind  had 
ceased,  a  dark  shadow  from  a  crossing  cloud 
moved  toward  us  from  the  river  over  the  blue 
sprinkled  field,  a  haze  stole  upward  from  the 
farther  view,  and,  bending  at  the  margin  of 
the  water  the  figure  of  Alca  bathed  in  light, 
seemed  to  watch  us  like  some  calm  incarnate 
response  to  my  own  hopes  and  prayers. 

"  'How  beautiful,  how  wonderful  it  is !' 
her  arms  dropped  from  her  head,  the  body 
bent  forward  to  the  earth,  she  knelt ;  'but  must 
it  always  be  as  it  is !  Shall  not  the  companion 
of  my  days  come  to  this  dear  place?  The  light 
of  sun  and  moon  and  stars  seems  as  it  always 
seemed  on  Earth,  but  there  does  not  come  to 
me  the  divine  touch  of  affection,  that 
intimate  feeling  of  oneness  and  self-surren- 
der that  was  mine  with  Randolph  on  the 
Earth.  A  strength  unknown  to  me  before, 
a  power  of  enjoyment,  a  motion  that  is 
ecstacy,  thought,  feeling,  language,  all  strong, 
radiant,  supreme,  but  yet  loneliness !  Memory 
of  the  things  of  Earth  hardly  remains,  except 
where  love  prints  its  firm  expression.  Ran- 
dolph, my  husband,  and  Bradford,  my  boy,  to 
me  are  deathless.  Why  can  it  not  be  that  they 
should    be    here    also?     Can    the    purposes    of 


226 


divine  love  be  fulfilled  by  tbis  separation? 
Shall  all  the  powers  of  this  new  life,  this 
beautiful  and  sinless  Nature  be  wasted  for 
the  want  of  love  which  holds  both  Nature  and 
the  soul  in  place,  in  harmony,  in  adoration  of 
the  One  enduring  Thought? 

"  'How  the  long  years  have  rolled  by  since 
I  have  left  the  Earth,  and  how,  amid  all  the 
pleasurable  things  of  this  serene  and  hopeful 
life,  the  hidden  loneliness  has  denied  it  the 
last  completing  touch  of  joy!  Only  as  I  still 
dare  to  believe,  that  the  flight  of  years  must 
end  his  aging  days  on  Earth,  and  that  the 
eternal  destiny  of  married  souls  is  an  eternal 
union,  and  that  his  reincarnation  here  shall 
bring  us  into  a  new  and  better,  richer,  deeper 
harmony  of  mind  and  tastes  and  thoughts ; 
only  as  the  belief  grows  stronger  with  passing 
time,  can  I,  so  surrounded  with  peace  and 
happiness,  in  this  countryside  of  quiet  work 
and  gentle  cares,  bear  longer  this  awful  isola- 
tion, the  nights  of  prayerful  hope,  the  days  of 
still  enduring  hope. 

"  'How  beautiful  it  is  to  live,  to  watch  the 
changing  seasons  in  this  strange  new  world 
untouched  by  sickness  or  death  or  sin.  And 
yet,'  she  convulsively  clasped  her  face,  'what 
beauty,  what  peace,  what  sinlessness  can  re- 
place the  only  life — the  Life  of  Love? 

"  'And  then  my  boy !    Can  it  be  possible  that 


227 


I  may  see  him !  Why,  now  he  will  seem  only 
a  brother  in  this  new  youth  in  which  I  have 
been  born,  and  yet — and  yet — the  mother  feel- 
ing is  unchanged;  the  old  yearning,  just  as 
when  I  left  him  a  boy  upon  the  Earth  seems 
as  great  as  ever. 

"  'Oh !  when  shall  this  waiting  all  end  in 
our  reunion — father,  mother,  son — and  all 
strong  and  glad  in  youth  and  hope?' 

"She  rose  and  stretched  out  her  arms  toward 
some  phantasy  of  thought  or  fancy  in  the  air 
above  her,  and  then  a  song  of  recall  from  a 
distance  floated  along  the  meadow  and  the 
river's  banks,  a  sweet,  joyous,  beckoning  melo- 
dy, that  compelled  the  ear  to  listen,  and  the 
feet  to  follow. 

"Martha  half  turned — I  was  dazed  with 
wonder — I  did  not  wish  to  speak.  I  could  not 
then  have  revealed  myself.  It  was  all  too  mar- 
vellous, too  hard  to  comprehend.  The  old 
doubts  of  my  reality,  of  the  realness  of  every- 
thing I  had  seen,  surged  up  again,  and  swept 
over  me  in  a  tide  of  disillusion. 

"Was  I  dreaming;  in  the  death  from  Earth 
had  I  passed  into  a  wild  phantasmagoria  of 
mental  pictures,  some  endless  dream  where  the 
lulled  soul  encountered  again,  as  visions,  all 
it  may  have  hoped  for,  all  its  unconscious 
cerebration  had  limned  on  the  interior  can- 
vases of  the  mind,  to  be  reviewed,  as  in  a  sleep, 


228 


where  every  detail  met  the  test  of  curiosity — 
except  that  last  test — waking?  Should  I  awake? 

"I  sprang  forward  and  beat  myself,  in  a  sort 
of  fury  of  doubt  against  the  trees  about  me. 
The  resistance  was  secure  and  certain.  Pain 
— it  seemed  a  kind  of  bliss,  as  the  guarantee 
of  my  flesh  and  blood  existence — came  to  me 
and  in  my  paroxysms  the  torn  skin  of  my 
body  bled.  I  looked  at  the  red  stains  with 
exultation.  I  felt  the  aches  of  physical  con- 
cussion, with  a  real  rapture. 

"This  life  was  real,  was  dual — body  and 
mind — as  on  Earth,  and  the  woman  hastening 
before  me  along  the  marge  of  the  rippling 
stream — I  listened  in  a  kind  of  feverish  antic- 
ipation of  its  silence,  for  the  low  cadence  of 
water  passing  over  pebbles — was  Martha !  It 
must  be  true !  What  agency  of  superhuman 
cruelty  could  thus  deceive  me?  No!  my 
eyes  were  faithful,  and  the  air,  thrilling  with 
the  distant  song,  brought  nearer  to  my  ears 
the  answering  call  of  my  wife ! 

"She  was  far  distant.  I  ran  from  tree  to 
tree  in  the  wooded  back  ground  and  traced 
her  to  a  little  hamlet  where  a  group  of  Mar- 
tians awaited  her.  They  turned  up  a  narrow 
lane  singing,  and  I  lost  them. 

"I  returned  to  Alca,  pensively  standing  on 
the  hill  we  had  first  descended,  and  said 
nothing  of  the  strange  revelation. 


229 


"I  contrived  to  learn  from  him  the  name  of 
the  little  village,  and  the  nature  of  its  inhabi- 
tants. He  called  it  Nitansi,  and  said  it  had 
been  one  of  the  old  spots  where  migrating 
souls  from  other  worlds  once  entered  Mars. 

"  'A  few,'  he  added,  'come  there  now, 
though  rarely,  and  the  people  cultivate  flowers 
in  great  farms,  and  formerly  sent  them  to 
Scandor.  I  think  I  saw  them  moving  now 
along  the  fields  at  the  riverside.  We  must 
go  back.  I  shall  go  down  the  canal  to  Sinsi. 
I  know  the  Council  of  Scandor  will  resolve  to 
rebuild    the    city.'  " 

The  message  closed.  I  rose  and  staggered 
backward  into  the  arms  of  Jobson.  A  severe 
hemorrhage  ensued,  and  slowly  thereafter  the 
darkening  doors  of  life  began  to  close  upon 
me.  Disease  had  won  its  way  against  all  the 
force  of  life. 

It  has  been  my  task  during  these  last  weeks 
of  life  to  write  this  account  of  these  wonderful 
experiences,  and  to  leave  them  to  the  world 
as  an  assurance — to  how  many  will  it  give 
a  new  delight  in  living,  to  how  many  will  it 
remove  the  bitterness  of  living,  to  how  many 
may  it  bring  resignation  and  hope — that  the 
blight  of  Death  is  only  an  incident  in  a  con- 
tinuous renewal  of  Life. 

(End  of  Mr.  Dodd's  MS.) 


230 


Note  by  Mr.  August  Bixby  Dodan. 

Mr.  Dodd  died  January  20,  1895.  He  never 
recovered  from  the  severe  shock  caused  by 
hemorrhage,  after  receiving  the  second  mes- 
sage from  his  father  and  recorded  above.  He 
appreciated  the  imminence  of  death  acutely, 
and  struggled  to  complete,  as  he  has,  the 
narrative  of  his  life.  My  daughter  was  not 
again  seen  by  Mr.  Dodd,  though  he  received 
several  letters  from  her,  which  were  found 
beneath  his  pillow  after  his  demise. 

I  was  with  Mr.  Dodd  constantly  during  the 
latter  days  of  his  illness,  and  then  promised 
him  that  I  should  secure  the  publication  of 
his  remarkable  story. 

I  am  not  willing  to  hazard  any  conjecture 
as  to  the  more  extraordinary  features  of  this 
narrative.  I  can  very  positively,  however, 
affirm  my  complete  confidence  in  Mr.  Dodd's 
honesty.  I  knew  both  his  father  and  himself 
very  well,  and  through  a  long  intimacy  found 
them  both  consistently  conforming  to  a  very 
high  type  of  character,  courage,  and  intellect- 
ual integrity. 

The  MS.  of  Mr.  Dodd  was  handed  to  me 
by  himself,  and  I  recall  with  a  pathetic  interest 
his  smile  of  appreciative  gratitude  as  I  re- 
ceived it,  and  gave  him  my  earnest  assurance 


231 


that  it  should  be  printed,  and  that  the  world 
would  be  made  acquainted  with  his  experi- 
ments and  their  results. 

Mr.  Dodd  was  the  residuary  legatee  of  his 
father,  and  his  own  will  made  during  his  last 
sickness,  appointed  me  as  his  executor.  My 
daughter  was  made  his  sole  heir,  with  two  ex- 
ceptions ;  small  amounts  in  favor  of  his  as- 
sistants— Jeb  Jobson  and  Andrew  Clarke  were 
mentioned  in  his  will — and  these  sums  have 
been  paid  by  myself  to  each. 

A  series  of  extraordinary  misfortunes,  for 
which  I  am  myself  measurably  to  blame,  re- 
sulted in  the  complete  disappearance  of  the 
fortune  inherited  by  my  daughter.  Her  own 
death  and  that  of  my  wife,  following  upon  this 
disaster,  though  in  no  way  connected  with  it, 
obliterated — and  here  again  I  admit  a  very 
grievous  culpability — the  remembrance  of  the 
MS.  of  Mr.  Dodd  and  my  own  promises  as 
to  its  publication. 

I  found  the  MS.  of  Mr.  Dodd  carefully 
wrapped  up  at  the  bottom  of  a  trunk  of  papers, 
and  confess  that  I  opened  the  package  it 
formed  with  a  bitter  sense  of  self-reproach. 
Mr.  Dodd  had  expected  to  publish  this  paper 
in  New  York,  and  had  requested  that  it  should 
be  forwarded  to  that  city.  I  have  at  last  com- 
plied with  his  wishes,  and  the  MS.  leaves 
my    hands,    absolutely    unchanged,    consigned 


through  the  kind  intervention  of  a  friend,  to 
a  publishing  house  in  that  western  metropolis. 
I  am  unable  to  add  anything  more  to  this 
statement,  which,  in  itself,  I  fear  conveys  con- 
siderable censure  to  the  undersigned. 

August  Bixby  Dodan. 


Note  by  the  Editor. 

The  MS.  alluded  to  by  Mr.  Dodan  in  the 
preceding  paragraphs  was  safely  brought  to 
New  York  in  1900,  and  after  a  very  careful  ex- 
amination, repeatedly  rejected  by  the  promi- 
nent publishers  to  whom  it  was  submitted. 

Through  a  peculiar  accident  connected  with 
some  negotiations  pertaining  to  a  scientific 
work,  contemplated  by  the  writer,  the  MS. 
came  into  his  hands,  and  he  has  been  encour- 
aged to  publish  it,  influenced  by  the  favorable 
comments  of  friends  upon  its  intrinsic  inter- 
est. He  also  has  added  to  the  work  as  an 
appendix,  which  cannot  fail  to  attract  the  at- 
tention of  many,  the  views  of  the  great  as- 
tronomer Schiaparelli  upon  the  present  physi- 
cal condition  of  Mars,  being  the  reproduction 
of  an  article  by  that  distinguished  observer 
translated  from  Nature  et  Arte  for  February, 
1893,  by  Prof.  William  H.  Pickering  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of 


233 


Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  for 
1894,  published  here  by  permission  of  "As- 
tronomy and  Astro-Physics,"  in  which  journal 
it  first  appeared  in  Vol.  XIII.,  numbers  8  and 
9,  for  October  and  November,  1894.  In  this 
report  also  appeared  Schiaparelli's  Map  of 
Mars  in  1888,  which  the  Editor  has  not  repro- 
duced in  this  connection. 

The  introduction  to-day  of  the  wireless 
telegraphy,  assuming  a  daily  increasing  import- 
ance, furnishes  some  reasonable  hope  that  the 
marvellous  statements  given  in  Mr.  Dodd's 
narrative  may  be  more  widely  verified  in  the 
future,  and  point  the  way  to  a  realization  of 
the  daring  and  thrilling  conception  of  inter- 
planetary communication. 


235 


THE  PLANET  MARS. 

BY  GIOVANNI  SCHIAPARELLI. 


237 


THE  PLANET  MARS. 

BY  GIOVANNI  SCHIAPARELLI. 

Many  of  the  first  astronomers  who  studied 
Mars  with  the  telescope  had  noted  on  the  out- 
line of  its  disk  two  brilliant  white  spots  of 
rounded  form  and  of  variable  size.  In  process 
of  time  it  was  observed  that  while  the  ordi- 
nary spots  upon  Mars  were  displaced  rapidly 
in  consequence  of  its  daily  rotation,  changing 
in  a  few  hours  both  their  position  and  their 
perspective,  the  two  white  spots  remained 
sensibly  motionless  at  their  posts.  It  was  con- 
cluded rightly  from  this  that  they  must  oc- 
cupy the  poles  of  rotation  of  the  planet,  or 
at  least  must  be  found  very  near  to  them. 
Consequently  they  were  given  the  name  of 
polar  caps  or  spots.  And  not  without  reason 
is  it  conjectured  that  these  represent  upon 
Mars  that  immense  mass  of  snow  and  ice 
which    still    to-day    prevents    navigators    from 


238 


reaching  the  poles  of  the  earth.  We  are  led 
to  this  conclusion  not  only  by  the  analogy  of 
aspect  and  of  place,  but  also  by  another  im- 
portant observation.     .     .     . 

As  things  stand,  it  is  manifest  that  if  the 
above-mentioned  white  polar  spots  of  Mars 
represent  snow  and  ice  they  should  continue  to 
decrease  in  size  with  the  approach  of  summer 
in  those  places  and  increase  during  the  winter. 
Now  this  very  fact  is  observed  in  the  most 
evident  manner.  In  the  second  half  of  the 
year  1892  the  southern  polar  cap  was  in  full 
view ;  during  that  interval,  and  especially  in 
the  months  of  July  and  August,  its  rapid 
diminution  from  week  to  week  was  very  evi- 
dent even  to  those  observing  with  common 
telescopes.  This  snow  (for  we  may  well  call 
it  so),  which  in  the  beginning  reached  as  far 
as  latitude  70  degrees  and  formed  a  cap  of 
over  2,000  kilometers  (1,200  miles)  in  diame- 
ter, progressively  diminished,  so  that  two  or 
three  months  later  little  more  of  it  remained 
than  an  area  of  perhaps  300  kilometers  (180 
miles)  at  the  most,  and  still  less  was  seen  in 
the  last  days  of  1892.  In  these  months  the 
southern  hemisphere  of  Mars  had  its  summer, 
the  summer  solstice  occurring  upon  October 
13.  Correspondingly  the  mass  of  snow  sur- 
rounding the  northern  pole  should  have  in- 
creased;   but    this    fact    was    not    observable, 


239 


since  that  pole  was  situated  in  the  hemisphere 
of  Mars  which  was  opposite  to  that  facing  the 
earth.  The  melting  of  the  northern  snow 
was  seen  in  its  turn  in  the  years  1882,  1884  and 
1886. 

These  observations  of  the  alternate  increase 
and  decrease  of  the  polar  snows  are  easily 
made  even  with  telescopes  of  moderate  power, 
but  they  become  much  more  interesting  and  in- 
structive when  we  can  follow  assiduously 
the  changes  in  their  more  minute  particulars, 
using  larger  instruments.  The  snowy  regions 
are  then  seen  to  be  successively  notched  at 
their  edges ;  black  holes  and  huge  fissures  are 
formed  in  their  interiors;  great  isolated  pieces 
many  miles  in  extent  stand  out  from  the  prin- 
cipal mass  and,  dissolving,  disappear  a  little 
later.  In  short,  the  same  divisions  and  move- 
ments of  these  icy  fields  present  themselves 
to  us  at  a  glance  that  occur  during  the  summer 
of  our  own  arctic  regions,  according  to  the  de- 
scriptions of  explorers. 

The  southern  snow,  however,  presents  this 
peculiarity:  The  center  of  its  irregularly 
rounded  figure  does  not  coincide  exactly  with 
the  pole,  but  is  situated  at  another  point,  which 
is  nearly  always  the  same,  and  is  distant  from 
the  pole  about  300  kilometers  (180  miles)  in 
the  direction  of  the  Mare  Erythraeum.  From 
this  we  conclude  that  when  the  area  of  the 


240 


snow  is  reduced  to  its  smallest  extent  the  south 
pole  of  Mars  is  uncovered,  and  therefore,  per- 
haps, the  problem  of  reaching  it  upon  this 
planet  is  easier  than  upon  the  earth.  The 
southern  snow  is  in  the  midst  of  a  huge  dark 
spot,  which  with  its  branches  occupies  nearly 
one-third  of  the  whole  surface  of  Mars,  and  is 
supposed  to  represent  its  principal  ocean. 
Hence  the  analogy  with  our  arctic  and  ant- 
arctic snows  may  be  said  to  be  complete,  and 
especially  so  with  the  antarctic  one. 

The  mass  of  the  northern  snow  cap  of  Mars 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  centered  almost  exact- 
ly upon  its  pole.  It  is  located  in  a  region 
of  yellow  color,  which  we  are  accustomed  to 
consider  as  representing  the  continent  of  the 
planet.  From  this  arises  a  singular  phenome- 
non which  has  no  analogy  upon  the  earth.  At 
the  melting  of  the  snows  accumulated  at  that 
pole  during  the  long  night  of  ten  months  and 
more  the  liquid  mass  produced  in  that  opera- 
tion is  diffused  around  the  circumference  of 
the  snowy  region,  converting  a  large  zone  of 
surrounding  land  into  a  temporary  sea  and 
filling  all  the  lower  regions.  This  produces 
a  gigantic  inundation,  which  has  led  some 
observers  to  suppose  the  existence  of  another 
ocean  in  those  parts,  but  which  does  not  really 
exist  in  that  place,  at  least  as  a  permanent 
sea.    We  see  then   (the  last  opportunity  was 


241 

in  1884)  the  white  spot  of  the  snow  sur- 
rounded by  a  dark  zone,  which  follows  its 
perimeter  in  its  progressive  diminution,  upon 
a  circumference  ever  more  and  more  narrow. 
The  outer  part  of  this  zone  branches  out  into 
dark  lines,  which  occupy  all  the  surrounding 
region,  and  seem  to  be  distributary  canals  by 
which  the  liquid  mass  may  return  to  its  nat- 
ural position.  This  produces  in  these  regions 
very  extensive  lakes,  such  as  that  designated 
upon  the  map  by  the  name  of  Lacus  Hyper- 
boreus;  the  neighboring  interior  sea  called 
Mare  Acidalium  becomes  more  black  and  more 
conspicuous.  And  it  is  to  be  remembered  as 
a  very  probable  thing  that  the  flowing  of  this 
melted  snow  is  the  cause  which  determines 
principally  the  hydrographic  state  of  the 
planet  and  the  variations  that  are  periodically 
observed  in  its  aspect.  Something  similar 
would  be  seen  upon  the  earth  if  one  of  our 
poles  came  to  be  located  suddenly  in  the  cen- 
ter of  Asia  or  of  Africa.  As  things  stand  at 
present,  we  may  find  a  miniature  image  of 
these  conditions  in  the  flooding  that  is  ob- 
served in  our  streams  at  the  melting  of  the 
Alpine  snows. 

Travellers  in  the  arctic  regions  have  frequent 
occasion  to  observe  how  the  state  of  the  polar 
ice  at  the  beginning  of  the  summer,  and  even 
at  the  beginning  of  July,  is  always  very  un- 


242 


favorable  to  their  progress.  The  best  season 
for  exploration  is  in  the  month  of  August, 
and  September  is  the  month  in  which  the 
trouble  from  ice  is  the  least.  Thus  in  Septem- 
ber our  Alps  are  usually  more  practicable 
than  at  any  other  season.  And  the  reason 
for  it  is  clear — the  melting  of  the  snow  re- 
quires time ;  a  high  temperature  is  not  suffi- 
cient; it  is  necessary  that  it  should  continue, 
and  its  effect  will  be  so  much  the  greater,  as 
it  is  the  more  prolonged.  Thus,  if  we  could 
slow  down  the  course  of  our  season  so  that 
each  month  should  last  sixty  days  instead  of 
thirty,  in  the  summer,  in  such  a  lengthened 
condition,  the  melting  of  the  ice  would 
progress  much  further,  and  perhaps  it  would 
not  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  polar 
cap  at  the  end  of  the  warm  season  would  be 
entirely  destroyed.  But  one  cannot  doubt, 
in  such  a  case,  that  the  fixed  portion  of  such  a 
cap  would  be  reduced  to  a  much  smaller  size, 
than  we  see  it  to-day.  Now,  this  is  exactly  what 
happens  to  Mars.  The  long  year,  nearly 
double  our  own,  permits  the  ice  to  accumulate 
during  the  polar  night  of  ten  or  twelve 
months,  so  as  to  descend  in  the  form  of  a 
continuous  layer  as  far  as  parallel  70  degrees, 
or  even  farther.  But  in  the  day  which  follows, 
of  twelve  or  ten  months,  the  sun  has  time  to 
melt  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  the  snow  of  recent 


243 


formation,  reducing  it  to  such  a  small  area 
that  it  seems  to  us  no  more  than  a  very  white 
point.  And  perhaps  this  snow  is  entirely  de- 
stroyed ;  but  of  this  there  is  at  present  no 
satisfactory  observation. 

Other  white  spots  of  a  transitory  character 
and  of  a  less  regular  arrangement  are  formed 
in  the  southern  hemisphere  upon  the  islands 
near  the  pole,  and  also  in  the  opposite  hemi- 
sphere whitish  regions  appear  at  times  sur- 
rounding the  north  pole  and  reaching  to  50 
degrees  and  55  degrees  of  latitude.  They 
are,  perhaps,  transitory  snows,  similar  to  those 
which  are  observed  in  our  latitudes.  But  also 
in  the  torrid  zone  of  Mars  are  seen  some  very 
small  white  spots  more  or  less  persistent ; 
among  others  one  was  seen  by  me  in  three 
consecutive  oppositions  (1877-1882)  at  the 
point  indicated  upon  our  chart  by  longitude 
268  degrees  and  latitude  16  degrees  north. 
Perhaps  we  may  be  permitted  to  imagine  in 
this  place  the  existence  of  a  mountain  capable 
of  supporting  extensive  ice  fields.  The  ex- 
istence of  such  a  mountain  has  also  been  sug- 
gested by  some  recent  observers  upon  other 
grounds. 

As  has  been  stated,  the  polar  snows  of  Mars 
prove  in  an  incontrovertible  manner  that  this 
planet,  like  the  earth,  is  surrounded  by  an 
atmosphere    capable     of    transporting     vapor, 


244 


from  one  place  to  another.  These  snows  are, 
in  fact,  precipitations  of  vapor,  condensed  by 
the  cold,  and  carried  with  it  successively.  How 
carried  with  it  if  not  by  atmospheric  move- 
ment? The  existence  of  an  atmosphere 
charged  with  vapor  has  been  confirmed  also 
by  spectroscopic  observations,  principally  those 
of  Vogel,  according  to  which  this  atmosphere 
must  be  of  a  composition  differing  little  from 
our  own,  and  above  all,  very  rich  in  aqueous 
vapor.  This  is  a  fact  of  the  highest  import- 
ance because'  from  it  we  can  rightly  affirm 
with  much  probability  that  to  water  and  to  no 
other  liquid  is  due  the  seas  of  Mars  and  its 
polar  snows.  When  this  conclusion  is  as- 
sured beyond  all  doubt  another  one  may  be 
derived  from  it  of  not  less  importance — that 
the  temperature  of  the  Arean  climate  notwith- 
standing the  greater  distance  of  that  planet 
from  the  sun,  is  of  the  same  order  as  the  tem- 
perature of  the  terrestrial  one.  Because,  if 
it  were  true,  as  has  been  supposed  by  some  in- 
vestigators, that  the  temperature  of  Mars  was 
on  the  average  very  low  (from  50  degrees  to 
60  degrees  below  zero),  it  would  not  be  pos- 
sible for  water  vapor  to  be  an  important  ele- 
ment in  the  atmosphere  of  that  planet  nor 
could  water  be  an  important  factor  in  its  physi- 
cal changes,  but  would  give  place  to  carbonic 


245 


acid,  or  to  some  other  liquid  whose  freezing 
point  was  much  lower. 

The  elements  of  the  meteorology  of  Mars 
seem,  then,  to  have  a  close  analogy  to  those 
of  the  earth.  But  there  are  not  lacking,  as 
might  be  expected,  causes  of  dissimilarity. 
From  circumstances  of  the  smallest  moment 
nature  brings  forth  an  infinite  variety  in  its 
operations.  Of  the  greatest  influence  must 
be  different  arrangement  of  the  seas 
and  the  continents  upon  Mars  and  upon 
the  earth,  regarding  which  a  glance  at  the 
map  will  say  more  than  would  be  possi- 
ble in  many  words.  We  have  already  empha- 
sized the  fact  of  the  extraordinary  periodical 
flood,  which  at  every  revolution  of  Mars  in- 
undates the  northern  polar  region  at  the  melt- 
ing of  the  snow.  Let  us  now  add  that  this  in- 
undation is  spread  out  to  a  great  distance  by 
means  of  a  network  of  canals,  perhaps  con- 
stituting the  principal  mechanism  (if  not  the 
only  one)  by  which  water  (and  with  it  organic 
life)  may  be  diffused  over  the  arid  surface 
of  the  planet.  Because  on  Mars  it  rains  very 
rarely,  or  perhaps  even  it  does  not  rain  at  all. 
And  this  is  the  proof. 

Let  us  carry  ourselves  in  imagination  into 
celestial  space,  to  a  point  so  distant  from  the 
earth  that  we  may  embrace  it  all  at  a  single 
glance.    He   would   be   greatly   in   error   who 


246 


had  expected  to  see  reproduced  there  upon  a 
great  scale  the  image  of  our  continents  with 
their  gulfs  and  islands  and  with  the  seas  that 
surround  them  which  are  seen  upon  our 
artificial  globes.  Then  without  doubt  the 
known  forms  or  parts  of  them  would  be  seen 
to  appear  under  a  vaporous  veil,  but  a  great 
part  (perhaps  one-half)  of  the  surface  would 
be  rendered  invisible  by  the  immense  fields 
of  cloud,  continually  varying  in  density,  in 
form,  and  in  extent.  Such  a  hindrance,  most 
frequent  and  continuous  in  the  polar  regions, 
would  still  impede  nearly  half  the  time  the 
view  of  the  temperate  zones,  distributing  itself 
in  capricious  and  ever  varying  configurations. 
The  seas  of  the  torrid  zone  would  be  seen  to  be 
arranged  in  long  parallel  layers,  corresponding 
to  the  zone  of  the  equatorial  and  tropical 
calms.  For  an  observer  placed  upon  the  moon 
the  study  of  our  geography  would  not  be  so 
simple  an  undertaking  as  one  might  at  first 
imagine. 

There  is  nothing  of  this  sort  in  Mars.  In 
every  climate  and  under  every  zone  its  atmos- 
phere is  nearly  perpetually  clear  and  sufficient- 
ly transparent  to  permit  one  to  recognize  at 
any  moment  whatever  the  contours  of  the  seas 
and  continents,  and,  more  than  that,  even  the 
minor  configurations.  Not  indeed  that  vapors 
of  a  certain  degree  of  opacity  are  lacking,  but 


they  offer  very  little  impediment  to  the  study 
of  the  topography  of  the  planet.  Here  and  there 
we  see  appear  from  time  to  time  a  few  whitish 
spots,  changing  their  position  and  their  form, 
rarely  extending  over  a  very  wide  area.  They 
frequent  by  preference  a  few  regions,  such  as 
the  islands  of  the  Mare  Australe,  and  on  the 
continents  the  regions  designated  on  the  map 
with  the  names  of  Elysium  and  Tempe.  Their 
brilliancy  generally  diminishes  and  disappears 
at  the  meridian  hour  of  the  place,  and  is  re- 
enforced  in  the  morning  and  evening  with  very 
marked  variations.  It  is  possible  that  they 
may  be  layers  of  clouds  because  the  upper 
portions  of  terrestrial  clouds  where  they  are 
illuminated  by  the  sun  appear  white.  But 
various  observations  lead  us  to  think  that  we 
are  dealing  rather  with  a  thin  veil  of  fog  in- 
stead of  a  true  nimbus  cloud,  carrying  storms 
and  rain.  Indeed,  it  may  be  merely  a  tempo- 
rary condensation  of  vapor  under  the  form  of 
dew  or  hoar  frost. 

Accordingly,  as  far  as  we  may  be  permitted 
to  argue  from  the  observed  facts,  the  climate 
of  Mars  must  resemble  that  of  a  clear  day 
upon  a  high  mountain.  By  day  a  very  strong 
solar  radiation,  hardly  mitigated  at  all  by  mist 
or  vapor ;  by  night  a  copious  radiation  from 
the  soil  toward  celestial  space,  and  because  of 
that   a   very   marked   refrigeration.    Hence   a 


348 


climate  of  extremes,  and  great  changes  of 
temperature  from  day  to  night,  and  from  one 
season  to  another.  And  as  on  the  earth  at  alti- 
tudes of  5,000  and  6,000  meters  (17,000  to  20,- 
000  feet)  the  vapor  of  the  atmosphere  is  con- 
densed only  into  the  solid  form,  producing 
those  whitish  masses  of  suspended  crystals 
which  we  call  cirrus  clouds,  so  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  Mars  it  would  be  rarely  possible  (or 
would  even  be  impossible)  to  find  collections 
of  cloud  capable  of  producing  rain  of  any 
consequence.  The  variation  of  the  temper- 
ature from  one  season  to  another  would  be 
notably  increased  by  their  long  duration,  and 
thus  we  can  understand  the  great  freezing  and 
melting  of  the  snow  which  is  renewed  in  turn 
at  the  poles  at  each  complete  revolution  of  the 
planet  around  the  sun. 

As  our  chart  demonstrates,  in  its  general  to- 
pography Mars  does  not  present  any  analogy 
with  the  earth.  A  third  of  its  surface  is  occu- 
pied by  the  great  Mare  Australe,  which  is 
strewn  with  many  islands,  and  the  continents 
arc  cut  up  by  gulfs,  and  ramifications  of  vari- 
ous forms.  To  the  general  water  system 
belongs  an  entire  series  of  small  internal  seas, 
of  which  the  Hadriacum  and  the  Tyrrhenum 
communicate  with  it  by  wide  mouths,  whilst 
the  Cimmerium,  the  Sirenum,  and  the  Solis 
Lacus  are  connected  with  it  only  by  means  of 


249 


narrow  canals.  We  shall  notice  in  the  first 
four  a  parallel  arrangement,  which  certainly 
is  not  accidental,  as  also  not  without  reason 
is  the  corresponding  position  of  the  peninsulas 
of  Ausonia,  Hesperia,  and  Atlantis.  The  color 
of  the  seas  of  Mars  is  generally  brown,  mixed 
with  gray,  but  not  always  of  equal  intensity 
in  all  places,  nor  is  it  the  same  in  the  same 
place  at  all  times.  From  an  absolute  black 
it  may  descend  to  a  light-gray  or  to  an  ash 
color.  Such  a  diversity  of  colors  may  have  its 
origin  in  various  causes,  and  is  not  without 
analogy  also  upon  the  earth,  where  it  is  noted 
that  the  seas  of  the  warm  zone  are  usually 
much  darker  than  those  nearer  the  pole.  The 
water  of  the  Baltic,  for  example,  has  a  light, 
muddy  color  that  is  not  observed  in  the 
Mediterranean.  And  thus  in  the  seas  of  Mars 
we  see  the  color  become  darker  when  the  sun 
approaches  their  zenith,  and  summer  begins 
to  rule  in  that  region. 

All  of  the  remainder  of  the  planet,  as  far  as 
the  north  pole  is  occupied  by  the  mass  of  the 
continents,  in  which,  save  in  a  few  areas  of 
relatively  small  extent,  an  orange  color  pre- 
dominates, which  sometimes  reaches  a  dark 
red  tint,  and  in  others  descends  to  yellow  and 
white.  The  variety  in  this  coloring  is  in  part 
of  meteorological  origin,  in  part  it  may  depend 
on  the  diverse  nature  of  the  soil,  but  upon  its 


250 


real  cause  it  is  not  as  yet  possible  to  frame  any 
very  well  grounded  hypothesis.  Nevertheless, 
the  cause  of  this  predominance  of  the  red  and 
yellow  tints  upon  the  surface  of  ancient  Pyrois 
is  well  known.*  Some  have  thought  to  attri- 
bute this  coloring  to  the  atmosphere  of  Mars, 
through  which  the  surface  of  the  planet 
might  be  seen  colored,  as  any  terrestrial  object 
becomes  red  when  seen  through  red  glass. 
But  many  facts  are  opposed  to  this  idea,  among 
others  that  the  polar  snows  appear  always 
of  the  purest  white,  although  the  rays  of  light 
derived  from  them  traverse  twice  the  atmos- 
phere of  Mars  under  great  obliquity.  We 
must  then  conclude  that  the  Arean  continents 
appear  red  and  yellow  because  they  are  so  in 
fact. 

Besides  these  dark  and  light  regions, 
which  we  have  described  as  seas  and  conti- 
nents, and  of  whose  nature  there  is  at  present 
scarcely  left  any  room  for  doubt,  some  others 
exist,  truly  of  small  extent,  of  an  amphibious 
nature,  which  sometimes  appear  yellowish  like 
the  continents,  and  are  sometimes  clothed  in 
brown  (even  black  in  certain  cases),  and  as- 
sume the  appearance  of  seas,  whilst  in  other 
cases  their  color  is  intermediate  in  tint,  and 

*  Pyrois  I  take  to  be  some  terrestrial  region,  although 
I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  translation  of  the  name. — 
Translator. 


251 


leaves  us  in  doubt  to  which  class  of  regions 
they  may  belong.  Thus  all  the'  islands  scat- 
tered through  the  Mare  Australe  and  the  Mare 
Erythraeura  belong  to  this  category ;  so,  too, 
the  long  peninsula  called  Deucalionis  Regio 
and  Pyrrhae  Regio,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Mare  Acidalium  the  regions  designated  by  the 
names  of  Baltia  and  Nerigos.  The  most  natu- 
ral idea,  and  the  one  to  which  we  should  be  led 
by  analogy,  is  to  suppose  these  regions  to 
represent  huge  swamps,  in  which  the  variation 
in  depth  of  the  water  produces  the  diversity 
of  colors.  Yellow  would  predominate  in  those 
parts  where  the  depth  of  the  liquid  layer  was 
reduced  to  little  or  nothing,  and  brown,  more 
or  less  dark,  in  those  places  where  the  water 
was  sufficiently  deep  to  absorb  more  light  and 
to  render  the  bottom  more  or  less  invisible. 
That  the  water  of  the  sea,  or  any  other  deep 
and  transparent  water,  seen  from  above,  ap- 
pears more  dark  the  greater  the  depth  of  the 
liquid  stratum,  and  that  the  land  in  comparison 
with  it  appears  bright  under  the  solar  illumi- 
nation, is  known  and  confirmed  by  certain 
physical  reasons.  The  traveler  in  the  Alps 
often  has  occasion  to  convince  himself  of  it, 
seeing  from  the  summits  the  deep  lakes  with 
which  the  region  is  strewn  extending  under 
his  feet  as  black  as  ink,  whilst  in  contrast  with 


252 


them    even    the   blackest    rocks    illumined   by 
the  sunlight  appeared  brilliant.* 

Not  without  reason,  then,  have  we  hitherto 
attributed  to  the  dark  spots  of  Mars  the  part 
of  seas,  and  that  of  continents  to  the  reddish 
areas  which  occupy  nearly  two-thirds  of  all  the 
planet,  and  we  shall  find  later  other  reasons 
which  confirm  this  method  of  reasoning.  The 
continents  form  in  the  northern  hemisphere  a 
nearly  continuous  mass,  the  only  important  ex- 
ception being  the  great  lake  called  the  Mare 
Acidalium,  of  which  the  extent  may  vary  ac- 
cording to  the  time,  and  which  is  connected 
in  some  way  with  the  inundations  which  we 
have  said  were  produced  by  the  melting  of  the 
snow  surrounding  the  north  pole.  To  the  sys- 
tem of  the  Mare  Acidalium  undoubtedly  be- 
long the  temporary  lake  called  Lacus  Hyper- 
boreus  and  the  Lacus  Niliacus.  This  last  is 
ordinarily  separated  from  the  Mare  Acidalium 
by  means  of  an  isthmus  or  regular  dam,  of 
which  the  continuity  was  only  seen  to  be 
broken  once  for  a  short  time  in  1888.  Other 
smaller  dark  spots  are  found  here  and  there 

*  This  observation  of  the  dark  color  which  deep  water 
exhibits  when  seen  from  above  is  found  already  noted  by 
the  first  author  of  antique  memory,  for  in  the  Iliad  (verses 
770-771  of  Book  V)  it  is  described  how  "the  sentinel  from 
the  high  sentry  box  extends  his  glance  over  the  wine- 
colored  sea,  oivoTta.  n'r)7'roj'."  In  the  version  of  Monti 
the  adjective  indicating  the  color  is  lost. 


253 


in  the  continental  area  which  we  may  desig- 
nate as  lakes,  hut  they  are  certainly  not  per- 
manent lakes  like  ours,  but  are  variable  in  ap- 
pearance and  size  according  to  the  seasons,  to 
the  point  of  wholly  disappearing  under  certain 
circumstances.  Ismenius  Lacus,  Lunae  Lacus, 
Trivium  Charontis,  and  Propontis  are  the 
most  conspicuous  and  durable  ones.  There 
are  also  smaller  ones,  such  as  Lacus  Moeris 
and  Fons  Juventse,  which  at  their  maximum 
size  do  not  exceed  ioo  to  150  kilometers  (60 
to  90  miles)  in  diameter,  and  are  among  the 
most  difficult  objects  upon  the  planet. 

All  the  vast  extent  of  the  continents  is  fur- 
rowed upon  every  side  by  a  network  of  numer- 
ous lines  or  fine  stripes  of  a  more  or  less 
pronounced  dark  color,  whose  aspect  is  very 
variable.  These  traverse  the  planet  for  long 
distances  in  regular  lines  that  do  not  at  all 
resemble  the  winding  courses  of  our  streams. 
Some  of  the  shorter  ones  do  not  reach  500 
kilometers  (300  miles),  others,  on  the  other 
hand,  extend  for  many  thousands,  occupying 
a  quarter  or  sometimes  even  a  third  of  a  cir- 
cumference of  the  planet.  Some  of  these  are 
very  easy  to  see,  especially  that  one  which  is 
near  the  extreme  left-hand  limit  of  our  map 
and  is  designated  by  the  name  of  Nilosyrtis. 
Others  in  turn  are  extremely  difficult,  and  re- 
semble the  finest  thread  of  spider's  web  drawn 


254 


across  the  disk.  They  are  subject  also  to 
great  variations  in  their  breadth,  which  may 
reach  200  or  even  300  kilometers  (120  to  180 
miles)  for  the  Nilosyrtis,  whilst  some  are 
scarcely  30  kilometers  (18  miles)  broad. 

These  lines  or  stripes  are  the  famous  canals 
of  Mars,  of  which  so  much  has  been  said.  As 
far  as  we  have  been  able  to  observe  them 
hitherto,  they  are  certainly  fixed  configura- 
tions upon  the  planet.  The  Nilosyrtis  has  been 
seen  in  that  place  for  nearly  one  hundred  years, 
and  some  of  the  others  for  at  least  thirty  years. 
Their  length  and  arrangement  are  constant, 
or  vary  only  between  very  narrow  limits.  Each 
of  them  always  begins  and  ends  between  the 
same  regions.  But  their  appearance  and  their 
degree  of  visibility  vary  greatly,  for  all  of 
them,  from  one  opposition  to  another,  and 
even  from  one  week  to  another,  and  these  vari- 
ations do  not  take  place  simultaneously  and 
according  to  the  same  laws  for  all,  but  in  most 
cases  happen  apparently  capriciously,  or  at 
least  according  to  laws  not  sufficiently  simple 
for  us  to  be  able  to  unravel.  Often  one  or 
more  become  indistinct,  or  even  wholly  invis- 
ible, whilst  others  in  their  vicinity  increase 
to  the  point  of  becoming  conspicuous  even  in 
telescopes  of  moderate  power.  The  first  of  our 
maps  shows  all  those  that  have  been  seen  in 
a  long  series  of  observations.     This  does  not 


255 


at  all  correspond  to  the  appearance  of  Mars  at 
any  given  period,  because  generally  only  a 
few  are  visible  at  once.* 

Every  canal  (for  now  we  shall  so  call  them) 
opens  at  its  ends  either  into  a  sea,  or  into  a 
lake,  or  into  another  canal,  or  else  into  the 
intersection  of  several  other  canals.  None  of 
them  have  yet  been  seen  cut  off  in  the  middle 
of  the  continent,  remaining  without  beginning 
or  without  end.  This  fact  is  of  the  highest 
importance.  The  canals  may  intersect 
among  themselves  at  all  possible  angles,  but 
by  preference  they  converge  toward  the  small 
spots   to  which   we   have   given   the  name  of 

*  In  a  footnote  the  author  refers  to  a  drawing  of  Mars 
made  by  himself,  September  15,  X892,  and  says,  -  -  -  "  At 
the  top  of  the  disk  the  Mare  Erythraeum  and  the  Mare 
Australe  appear  divided  by  a  great  curved  peninsula, 
shaped  like  a  sickle,  producing  an  unusual  appearance  in 
the  area  called  Deucalionis  Regio,  which  was  prolonged 
that  year  so  as  to  reach  the  islands  of  Noachis  and  Argyre. 
This  region  forms  with  them  a  continuous  whole,  but  with 
faint  traces  of  separation  occurring  here  and  there  in  a 
length  of  nearly  6,000  kilometers  (4,000  miles).  Its  color, 
much  less  brilliant  than  that  of  the  continents,  was  a  mix- 
ture of  their  yellow  with  the  brownish  gray  of  the  neigh- 
boring seas."  The  interesting  feature  of  this  note  is  the 
remark  that  it  was  an  unusual  appearance,  the  region  re- 
ferred to  being  that  in  which  the  central  branch  of  the  fork 
of  the  Y  appeared.  Since  no  such  branch  was  conspicu- 
ously visible  this  year,  it  would  therefore  seem  from  the 
above  that  it  was  the  opposition  of  1892  that  was  peculiar, 
and  not  the  present  one.— Translator. 


256 


lakes.  For  example,  seven  are  seen  to  con- 
verge in  Lacus  Phcenicis,  eight  in  Trivium 
Charontis,  six  in  Lunae  Lacus,  and  six  in 
Ismenius  Lacus. 

The  normal  appearance  of  a  canal  is  that 
of  a  nearly  uniform  stripe,  black,  or  at  least 
of  a  dark  color,  similar  to  that  of  the  seas,  in 
which  the  regularity  of  its  general  course  does 
not  exclude  small  variations  in  its  breadth 
and  small  sinuosities  in  its  two  sides.  Often 
it  happens  that  such  a  dark  line  opening  out 
upon  the  sea  is  enlarged  into  the  form  of  a 
trumpet,  forming  a  huge  bay,  similar  to  the 
estuaries  of  certain  terrestrial  streams.  The 
Margaritifer  Sinus,  the  Aonius  Sinus,  the  Au- 
rora? Sinus,  and  the  two  horns  of  the  Sabaeus 
Sinus  are  thus  formed,  at  the  mouths  of  one 
or  more  canals,  opening  into  the  Mare 
Erythraeum  or  into  the  Mare  Australe.  The 
largest  example  of  such  a  gulf  is  the  Syrtis 
Major,  formed  by  the  vast  mouth  of  the 
Nilosyrtis,  so  called.  This  gulf  is  not  less 
than  1,800  kilometers  (1,100  miles)  in  breadth, 
and  attains  nearly  the  same  depth  in  a  longi- 
tudinal direction.  Its  surface  is  little  less  than 
that  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  In  this  case  we 
see  clearly  the  dark  surface  of  the  sea  contin- 
ued without  apparent  interruption  into  that 
canal.  Inasmuch  as  the  surfaces  called  seas 
are  truly  a  liquid  expanse,  we  cannot  doubt 


257 


that  the  canals  are  a  simple  prolongation  of 
them,  crossing  the  yellow  areas  or  continents. 
Of  the  remainder,  that  the.  lines  called 
canals  are  truly  great  furrows  or  depressions 
in  the  surface  of  the  planet,  destined  for  the 
passage  of  the  liquid  mass  and  constituting 
for  it  a  true  hydrographic  system,  is  demon- 
strated by  the  phenomena  which  are  observed 
during  the  melting  of  the  northern  snows. 
We  have  already  remarked  that  at  the  time 
of  melting  they  appear  surrounded  by  a  dark 
zone,  forming  a  species  of  temporary  sea.  At 
that  time  the  canals  of  the  surrounding  region 
become  blacker  and  wider,  increasing  to  the 
point  of  converting  at  a  certain  time  all  of 
the  yellow  region  comprised  between  the  edge 
of  the  snow  and  the  parallel  of  60  degrees 
north  latitude  into  numerous  islands  of  small 
extent.  Such  a  state  of  things  does  not  cease 
until  the  snow,  reduced  to  its  minimum  area, 
ceases  to  melt.  Then  the  breadth  of  the 
canals  diminishes,  the  temporary  sea  disap- 
pears, and  the  yellow  region  again  returns 
to  its  former  area.  The  different  phases  of 
these  vast  phenomena  are  renewed  at  each  re- 
turn of  the  seasons,  and  we  were  able  to 
observe  them  in  all  their  particulars  very 
easily  during  the  oppositions  of  1882,  1884,  and 
1886,  when  the  planet  presented  its  northern 
pole  to  terrestrial  spectators.     The  most  natu- 


258 


ral  and  the  most  simple  interpretation  is  that  to 
which  we  have  referred,  of  a  great  inundation 
produced  by  the  melting  of  the  snows ;  it  is 
entirely  logical  and  is  sustained  by  evident 
analogy  with  terrestrial  phenomena.  We  con- 
clude, therefore,  that  the  canals  are  such  in 
fact  and  not  only  in  name.  The  network 
formed  by  these  was  probably  determined  in 
its  origin  in  the  geological  state  of  the  planet, 
and  has  come  to  be  slowly  elaborated  in  the 
course  of  centuries.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
suppose  them  the  work  of  intelligent  beings, 
and,  notwithstanding  the  almost  geometrical 
appearance  of  all  of  their  system,  we  are  now 
inclined  to  believe  them  to  be  produced  by 
the  evolution  of  the  planet,  just  as  on  the 
earth  we  have  the  English  Channel  and  the 
channel  of  Mozambique. 

It  would  be  a  problem  not  less  curious  than 
complicated  and  difficult  to  study  the  system 
of  this  immense  stream  of  water,  upon  which 
perhaps  depends  principally  the  organic  life 
upon  the  planet,  if  organic  life  is  found  there. 
The  variations  of  their  appearance  demon- 
strated that  this  system  is  not  constant.  When 
they  become  displaced  or  their  outlines  be- 
come doubtful  and  ill  defined,  it  is  fair  to  sup- 
pose that  the  water  is  getting  low  or  is  even 
entirely  dried  up.  Then,  in  place  of  the 
canals  there  remains  either  nothing  or  at  most 


259 


stripes  of  yellowish  color  differing  little  from 
the  surrounding  background.  Sometimes  they 
take  on  a  nebulous  appearance,  for  which  at 
present  it  is  not  possible  to  assign  a  reason. 
At  other  times  true  enlargements  are  produced, 
expanding  to  ioo,  200  or  more  kilometers  (60 
to  120  miles)  in  breadth,  and  this  sometimes 
happens  for  canals  very  far  from  the  north 
pole,  according  to  laws  which  are  unknown. 
This  occurred  in  Hydaspes  in  1864,  in  Simois 
in  1879,  in  Ackeron  in  1884,  and  in  Triton  in 
1888.  The  diligent  and  minute  study  of  the 
transformations  of  each  canal  may  lead  later 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  causes  of  these  effects. 

But  the  most  surprising  phenomenon  pertain- 
ing to  the  canals  of  Mars  is  their  gemination, 
which  seems  to  occur  principally  in  the  months 
which  precede  and  in  those  which  follow  the 
great  northern  inundation — at  about  the  times 
of  the  equinoxes.  In  consequence  of  a  rapid 
process,  which  certainly  lasts  at  most  a  few 
days,  or  even  perhaps,  only  a  few  hours,  and 
of  which  it  has  not  yet  been  possible  to  de- 
termine the  particulars  with  certainty,  a  given 
canal  changes  its  appearance  and  is  found 
transformed  through  all  its  length  into  two 
lines  or  uniform  stripes  more  or  less  parallel 
to  one  another,  and  which  run  straight  and 
equal  with  the  exact  geometrical  precision  of 
the  two   rails   of  a   railroad.     But  this   exact 


260 


course  is  the  only  point  of  resemblance  with 
the  rails,  because  in  dimensions  there  is  no 
comparison  possible,  as  it  is  easy  to  imagine. 
These  two  lines  follow  very  nearly  the  direc- 
tion of  the  original  canal  and  end  in  the  place 
where  it  ended.  One  of  these  is  often  super- 
posed as  exactly  as  possible  upon  the  former 
line,  the  other  being  drawn  anew ;  but  in  this 
case  the  original  line  loses  all  the  small  ir- 
regularities and  curvature  that  it  may  have 
originally  possessed.  But  it  also  happens  that 
both  the  lines  may  occupy  opposite  sides  of 
the  former  canal  and  be  located  upon  entirely 
new  ground.  The  distance  between  the  two 
lines  differs  in  different  geminations  and  varies 
from  600  kilometers  (360  miles)  and  more 
down  to  the  smallest  limit  at  which  two  lines 
may  appear  separated  in  large  visual  tele- 
scopes— less  than  at  intervals  of  50  kilometers 
(30  miles).  The  breadth  of  the  stripes  them- 
selves may  range  from  the  limit  of  visibility, 
which  we  may  suppose  to  be  30  kilometers 
(18  miles),  up  to  more  than  100  kilometers 
(60  miles).  The  color  of  the  two  lines  varies 
from  black  to  a  light  red,  which  can 
hardly  be  distinguished  from  the  general 
yellow  background  of  the  continental 
surface.  The  space  between  is  for  the 
most  part  yellow,  but  in  many  cases  appears 
whitish.     The    gemination    is    not    necessarily 


261 


confined  only  to  the  canals,  but  tends  to  be 
produced  also  in  the  lakes.  Often  one  of  these 
is  seen  transformed  into  two  short,  broad, 
dark  lines  parallel  to  one  another  and  tra- 
versed by  a  yellow  line.  In  these  cases  the 
gemination  is  naturally  short  and  does  not  ex- 
ceed the  limits  of  the  original  lake. 

The  gemination  is  not  shown  by  all  at  the 
same  time,  but  when  the  season  is  at  hand  it 
begins  to  be  produced  here  and  there,  in  an 
isolated,  irregular  manner,  or  at  least  without 
any  easily  recognizable  order.  In  many  canals 
(such  as  the  Nilosyrtis,  for  example),  the  gemi- 
nation is  lacking  entirely,  or  is  scarcely  visible. 
After  having  lasted  for  some  months,  the 
markings  fade  out  gradually  and  disappear 
until  another  season  equally  favorable  for 
their  formation.  Thus  it  happens  that  in  cer- 
tain other  seasons  (especially  near  the  south- 
ern solstice  of  the  planet)  few  are  seen,  or 
even  none  at  all.  In  different  oppositions  the 
gemination  of  the  same  canal  may  present  dif- 
ferent appearances  as  to  width,  intensity,  and 
arrangement  of  the  two  stripes ;  also  in  some 
cases  the  direction  of  the  lines  may  vary,  al- 
though by  the  smallest  quantity,  but  still 
deviating  by  a  small  amount  from  the  canal 
with  which  they  are  directly  associated. 
From  this  important  fact  it  is  immediately 
understood    that    the     gemination     cannot    be 


262 


a  fixed  formation  upon  the  surface  of  Mars 
and  of  a  geographical  character  like  the  canals. 
The  second  of  our  maps  will  give  an  approxi- 
mate idea  of  the  appearance  which  these  singu- 
lar formations  present.  It  contains  all  the 
geminations  observed  since  1882  up  to  the 
present  time.  In  examining  it  it  is  necessary  to 
bear  in  mind  that  not  all  of  these  appearances 
were  simultaneous,  and  consequently  that  the 
map  does  not  represent  the  condition  of  Mars 
at  any  given  period ;  it  is  only  a  sort  of  topo- 
graphical register  of  the  observations  made  of 
this  phenomenon  at  different  times.* 

The  observation  of  the  gemination  is  one  of 
the  greatest  difficulty,  and  can  only  be  made 
by  an  eye  well  practiced  in  such  work,  added 
to  a  telescope  of  accurate  construction  and  of 
great  power.  This  explains  why  it  is  that  it 
was  not  seen  before  1882.  In  the  ten  years 
that  have  transpired  since  that  time,  it  has  been 
seen  and  described  at  eight  or  ten  observa- 
tories. Nevertheless,  some  still  deny  that 
these  phenomena  are  real,  and  tax  with  illusion 
(or  even  imposture)  those  who  declare  that 
they  have  observed  it. 

Their  singular  aspect,  and  their  being  drawn 
with  absolute  geometrical  precision,  as  if  they 
were   the   work  of   rule  or  compass,   has   led 

*  This  map  may  be  found  also  in  La  Planete  Mars,  by 
Flammarion,  page  44. — Translator. 


263 


some  to  see  in  them  the  work  of  intelligent 
beings,  inhabitants  of  the  planet.  I  am  very 
careful  not  to  combat  this  supposition,  which 
includes  nothing  impossible.  (Io  mi  guard- 
ero  bene  dal  combattere  questa  supposizione, 
la  quale  nulla  include  d'  impossibile.)  But  it 
will  be  noticed  that  in  any  case  the  gemina- 
tion cannot  be  a  work  of  permanent  character, 
it  being  certain  that  in  a  given  instance  it 
may  change  its  appearance  and  dimensions 
from  one  season  to  another.  If  we  should 
assume  such  a  work,  a  certain  variability 
would  not  be  excluded  from  it;  for  example, 
extensive  agricultural  labor  and  irrigation 
upon  a  large  scale.  Let  us  add,  further,  that 
the  intervention  of  intelligent  beings  might 
explain  the  geometrical  appearance  of  the 
gemination,  but  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  for 
such  a  purpose.  The  geometry  of  nature  is 
manifested  in  many  other  facts  from  which 
are  excluded  the  idea  of  any  artificial  labor 
whatever.  The  perfect  spheroids  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  and  the  ring  of  Saturn  were 
not  constructed  in  a  turning  lathe,  and  not  with 
compasses  has  Iris  described  within  the  clouds 
her  beautiful  and  regular  arch.  And  what 
shall  we  say  of  the  infinite  variety  of  those 
exquisite  and  regular  polyhedrons  in  which  the 
world  of  crystals  is  so  rich?  In  the  organic 
world,  also,  is  not  that  geometry  most  won- 


264 


derful  which  presides  over  the  distribution  of 
the  foliage  upon  certain  plants,  which  orders 
the  nearly  symmetrical,  star-like  figures  of 
the  flowers  of  the  field,  as  well  as  of  the  sea, 
and  which  produces  in  the  shell  such  an  ex- 
quisite conical  spiral  that  excels  the  most 
beautiful  masterpieces  of  Gothic  architecture? 
In  all  these  objects  the  geometrical  form  is 
the  simple  and  necessary  consequence  of  the 
principles  and  laws  which  govern  the  physical 
and  physiological  world.  That  these  principles 
and  these  laws  are  but  an  indication  of  a  higher 
intelligent  Power  we  may  admit,  but  this  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  present  argument. 

Having  regard,  then,  for  the  principle  that 
in  the  explanation  of  natural  phenomena  it 
is  universally  agreed  to  begin  with  the  sim- 
plest suppositions,  the  first  hypotheses  of  the 
nature  and  cause  of  the  geminations  have  for 
the  most  part  put  in  operation  only  the  laws  of 
inorganic  nature.  Thus,  the  gemination  is 
supposed  to  be  due  either  to  the  effects  of 
light  in  the  atmosphere  of  Mars,  or  to  opti- 
cal illusions  produced  by  vapors  in  various 
manners,  or  to  glacial  phenomena  of  a  per- 
petual winter,  to  which  it  is  known  all  the 
planets  will  be  condemned,  or  to  double 
cracks  in  its  surface,  or  to  single 
cracks  of  which  the  images  are  doubled  by  the 
effect    of    smoke    issuing    in    long    lines    and 


265 


blown  laterally  by  the  wind.  The  examina- 
tion of  these  ingenious  suppositions  leads  us 
to  conclude  that  none  of  them  seem  to  cor- 
respond entirely  with  the  observed  facts, 
either  in  whole  or  in  part.  Some  of  these 
hypotheses  would  not  have  been  proposed 
had  their  authors  been  able  to  examine  the 
geminations  with  their  own  eyes.  Since  some 
of  these  may  ask  me  directly,  "Can  you  sug- 
gest anything  better?"  I  must  reply  candidly, 
"No." 

It  would  be  far  more  easy  if  we  were  will- 
ing to  introduce  the  forces  pertaining  to  or- 
ganic nature.  Here  the  field  of  plausible  sup- 
position is  immense,  being  capable  of  making 
an  infinite  number  of  combinations  capable 
of  satisfying  the  appearances  even  with  the 
smallest  and  simplest  means.  Changes  of  veg- 
etation over  a  vast  area,  and  the  production  of 
animals,  also  very  small,  but  in  enormous  mul- 
titudes, may  well  be  rendered  visible  at  such 
a  distance.  An  observer  placed  in  the  moon 
would  be  able  to  see  such  an  appearance  at 
the  times  in  which  agricultural  operations 
are  carried  out  upon  one  vast  plain — the  seed- 
time and  the  gathering  of  the  harvest.  In 
such  a  manner  also  would  the  flowers  of  the 
plants  of  the  great  steppes  of  Europe  and 
Asia  be  rendered  visible  at  the  distance  of 
Mars — by    a   variety    of    coloring.     A    similar 


266 


system  of  operations  produced  in  that  planet 
may  thus  certainly  be  rendered  visible  to  us. 
But  how  difficult  for  the  Lunarians  and  the 
Areans  to  be  able  to  imagine  the  true  causes 
of  such  changes  of  appearance  without  having 
first  at  least  some  superficial  knowledge  of  ter- 
restrial nature!  So  also  for  us,  who  know  so 
little  of  the  physical  state  of  Mars,  and  nothing 
of  its  organic  world,  the  great  liberty  of  possi- 
ble supposition  renders  arbitrary  all  explana- 
tions of  this  sort  and  constitutes  the  gravest 
obstacle  to  the  acquisition  of  well-founded 
notions.  All  that  we  may  hope  is  that  with 
time  the  uncertainty  of  the  problem  will 
gradually  diminish,  demonstrating  if  not  what 
the  geminations  are,  at  least  what  they  can- 
not be.  We  may  also  confide  a  little  in  what 
Galileo  called  "the  courtesy  of  nature,"  thanks 
to  which  a  ray  of  light  from  an  unexpected 
source  will  sometimes  illuminate  an  investi- 
gation at  first  believed  inaccessible  to  our 
speculations,  and  of  which  we  have  a  beautiful 
example  in  celestial  chemistry.  Let  us  there- 
fore hope  and  study. 


